All thrombolytic agents convert plasminogen to plasmin, either directly as urokinase, saruplase and alteplase or indirectly as streptokinase. In the majority of recent clinical trials with streptokinase, a high-dose (0.7 to 1.5 mega-units), brief-duration (30 to 90 minutes) drug regimen has been used. After a mean time interval of 4.2 hours from onset of pain to intravenous infusion of streptokinase, a repeat angiography performed 60 to 90 min after start of thrombolytic treatment gives a reperfusion rate of 43%, the corresponding figures for anistreplase, saruplase and alteplase are 56%, 67% and 69%. The patency rates of similar studies with the same endpoint are for streptokinase 56%, for anistreplase 77%, for urokinase 62%, for saruplase 71% and for alteplase 75%. The reduction in hospital mortality in randomized trials with intravenous streptokinase (high-dose) is in 6 large studies in a total of 23,267 randomized patients from 10.7% in the control group to 7.0% in the streptokinase group. In a mortality study involving 1,004 patients randomized to intravenous anistreplase or placebo the 30-day mortality was reduced by 47%, from 12.2% to 6.4%. A large trial in which 5,011 patients were randomized to alteplase or placebo, the 30-day mortality was 7.2% compared to 9.8% in controls, a reduction of 27% by alteplase. In another trial 721 patients were randomized to placebo or alteplase; all patients were on aspirin. The 14-day mortality was only 2.8%, 51% less than that in the control group. It is most important that the favourable impact on hospital survival is maintained at 1 year with any thrombolytic drug. Large scale trials directly comparing mortality after alteplase, streptokinase or anistreplase are being performed or in the planning phase. The risk of bleeding exists with any thrombolytic agent but intracranial bleeding is the most serious one. In a large trial on 5,011 patients with acute myocardial infarction, stroke occurred in 1.1% of alteplase treated patients compared with 1.0% in placebo treated controls. Crucial problems are residual stenosis of the coronary artery and reocclusion. Urgent angioplasty does not seem to be the right answer; more effective antithrombotic strategies still have to be developed.