<qa>  What is the advantage of a 600 mg loading dose?Effective platelet inhibition is a cornerstone of therapy in patients with STEMI. In the ISIS-2 study acetylsalicylic acid ASA has been shown to improve short- and long-term clinical outcome in the same extent as fibrinolysis with streptokinase. Dual platelet inhibition with ASA and a thienopyridine has been repeatedly demonstrated to be more effective than ASA alone. Clopidogrel on top of ASA improved outcome in patients with acute coronary syndromes with and without PCI in the CURE study. Furthermore, a loading dose of 300 mg clopidogrel was advantageous in elective PCI in the CREDO trial and the addition of clopidogrel to ASA improved the patency rate of the infarct related artery in patients with STEMI undergoing fibrinolysis. In the BRAVE 3 study, the addition of abciximab to a background therapy of a high loading dose of 600 mg clopidogrel plus ASA did not result in an additional clinical benefit in terms of prevention of ischemic complications in primary elective PCI, suggesting a near optimal platelet inhibition with this treatment in primary PCI. The advantage of a 600 mg loading dose seems mainly related to the more rapid onset of the full antiplatelet effect within 2-4 hours as compared to 6-8 hours after 300 mg. 