PLAT and myocardial infarction: Thrombolysis was initially used for patients with myocardial infarction, but in the mid-1990s, tPA was specifically approved for patients with acute ischemic stroke, albeit with limitations.13 tPA is still the more widely used thrombolytic due to the fact that it, unlike uPA, binds preferentially to fibrin, and markedly potentiates (~500-fold) the ability of tPA to activate plasminogen.14 Fibrin therefore initiates its own demise15; an essential requirement given that it is only formed as a temporary matrix.