PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Krishna Prasad
AU  - Parminder Singh
AU  - Kewal Kanabar
AU  - Rajesh Vijayvergiya
TI  - Pulmonary haemorrhage following thrombolysis with streptokinase in myocardial infarction
AID  - 10.1136/bcr-2019-232308
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - BMJ Case Reports
PG  - e232308
VI  - 13
IP  - 1
4099  - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/13/1/e232308.short
4100  - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/13/1/e232308.full
SO  - BMJ Case Reports2020 Jan 01; 13
AB  - Pulmonary haemorrhage is a rare but a life-threatening complication of thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (MI). It usually presents with anaemia, massive haemoptysis, acute-onset respiratory distress and diffuse bilateral lung infiltrates on imaging. We hereby describe two patients, who had pulmonary haemorrhage following streptokinase therapy for acute MI. The first patient improved with conservative treatment, while the second patient died due to respiratory failure. Streptokinase, a fibrin non-specific agent, is a widely used thrombolytic in low-income and middle-income countries. Pulmonary haemorrhage should be suspected in patients who develop sudden respiratory compromise after receiving thrombolytics, especially streptokinase. The management issues related to this uncommon life-threatening complication have been discussed in this article.