 Myocardial infarction MI is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in the Western world. The main determinant of death and complications is infarct size, and limitation of the infarct size has therefore been an important objective for strategies to improve outcome. In patients presenting with an acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction STEMI, urgent myocardial reperfusion with percutaneous coronary intervention PCI is the most effective treatment to this end. However, despite PCI, the morbidity and mortality in patients with STEMI remain substantial. This fact suggests that other, adjuvant strategies are required to reduce infarct size and improve outcome. The inflammatory cytokine interleukin IL-6 is an important mediator of plaque destabilisation and rupture in acute coronary syndrome ACS and may contribute to the ischemia-reperfusion injury succeeding revascularisation. Experimental studies suggest that IL-6 inhibition can limit infarct size through anti-inflammatory mechanisms.ref 