BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has emerged as the strategy of choice in reestablishing effective flow in occluded infarct-related arteries in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) if it can be administered in a timely fashion. Patients who enter the catheterization laboratory with Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) grade 3 blood flow in the infarct-related vessel have better clinical outcomes than patients presenting with impaired flow. We hypothesize that a strategy of early pharmacologic reperfusion therapy with abciximab alone or in conjunction with reduced-dose reteplase, followed by PCI will improve the outcome of patients eligible for primary PCI. STUDY DESIGN: The Facilitated Intervention with Enhanced Reperfusion Speed to Stop Events (FINESSE) study is a 3000-patient, prospective, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The study is designed to compare the efficacy and safety of early administration of reduced-dose reteplase and abciximab combination therapy or abciximab alone followed by PCI with abciximab alone administered just before PCI for acute MI. Patients will be randomized to one of these 2 facilitated PCI treatments or primary PCI in a 1:1:1 fashion. The primary efficacy end point of FINESSE is the composite of all-cause mortality or post-MI complications within 90 days of randomization. The primary safety outcome assessment will be Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) major bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: The FINESSE study will answer important questions regarding the efficacy and safety of "upstream" medical therapy followed by planned intervention for patients with ST-elevation MI, potentially expanding the population eligible for a primary PCI approach. This study will also provide insight as to which facilitated regimen (reteplase/abciximab combination therapy or abciximab monotherapy) provides the best balance of efficacy and safety.