The Function of tPA in Fibrinolysis is Analogous to the Starter of An Automobile

Therapeutic fibrinolysis has used tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) as the fibrinolytic of choice ever since tPA was given FDA approval for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in 1987. This was followed in few years by its approval for ischemic stroke and tPA re-mains the treatment today based on an assumption that tPA is responsible for biological fibrinolysis. However, the evidence for this was never strong but has remained unchallenged for the past 33 years.