The advances made in the treatment of coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction are generally viewed with excitement by the health care team. As a result, it is often easy to forget that these same measures may be very frightening to patients and their families. It is the nurse's responsibility to ensure that adequate information is provided about streptokinase therapy and PTCA, not only in terms of their purposes, but also in terms of activities and sensations the patient will experience. The sympathetic stress response demonstrated by frightened patients has a significant effect on cardiovascular function. This effect in patients with an acute myocardial infarction or significant coronary artery disease can, in turn, adversely affect the outcome of therapeutic interventions. Streptokinase therapy and PTCA are still relatively new procedures. Over the next ten years they may be used both more extensively and under more acute circumstances. For the patient, however, they will remain new and frightening. Appropriate nursing interventions, particularly those related to decreasing this fright, can decrease anxiety and minimize the risks related to the sympathetic stress response, promoting patient well-being.