“Facilitated fibrinolysis”: GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors and fibrinolytic therapy in ST-elevation infarction. Considering the abundant platelet-rich thrombus present in almost all patients with acute myocardial infarction, it is intuitive that platelet inhibition with GP IIb/IIIa antagonists may be effective in this syndrome. In addition to their antiplatelet effects; however, GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors also augment intrinsic fibrinolysis, establishing a dual role for their application in acute myocardial infarction. GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors independently exhibit some intrinsic clot-dissolving

Sidebranch occlusion (SBO) is a challenging problem during interventional procedures.1–5 Although occlusion of branches smaller than 2 mm was reported to be of little clinical importance, this may lead to angina or myocardial infarction. Sidebranches with ostial lesions were observed to occlude more than the ones without any lesion. Plaque shift, plaque embolization, spasm, thrombus formation, design of the stent struts and high-pressure balloon predilation (> 10 atm) are reported to be the mechanisms responsible for SBO.6,7
Direct stenting (DS; stenting without balloon predilation) is a no

The study presented by Timurkaynak et al. in this issue of the Journal discusses a contemporary topic, which is direct stenting.1 It is interesting that the evaluation of this technique is performed in the setting of coronary bifurcations or in the presence of a sidebranch (> 1 mm) at the site of the lesion. The authors included 151 patients with 185 sidebranches in this report originating at the level of the lesion. Eighty-eight patients (110 sidebranches) underwent direct stenting, while 63 patients (75 sidebranches) underwent stenting with balloon predilatation (conventional stenting). The