Anticoagulants in Coronary Disease

Editorial

“…The recent reports by Adams (2) of the University of Chicago, by Glueck (3) of the University of Cincinnati, by Wright (4) of Cornell University, and by Gilchrist (5) in England testify to the soundness of the above estimation. Moreover, the number of publications on the anticoagulant drugs in the last decade indicates their effectiveness in a problem that has challenged physicians over the ages, namely, diagnosis and treatment of vascular obstructive disorders.…”

“…The clinician can avoid accumulation of physiological effect by following a simple rule: Never give a dose when the prothrombin time is rising. Gilchrist (5) expressed this problem concisely. If the prothrombin time is on the ascending limb of the curve, although it might be less than the therapeutic level, there is no way of determining to what height it might rise in the next 24 hours, because the liver is still responding to the previous dose, and an additional amount given at such a time may extend the prothrombin time to a hazardous level.…”

Anticoagulant Therapy

“…There is substantial agreement that anticoagulant therapy, in modifying these processes leads to a significant reduction in mortality and in the frequency of embolism. The analysis of over 1,000 cases in America (Wright, Beck and Marple, 1954) is an important contribution to the subject, and the whole matter has been well reviewed recently by Gilchrist and Tulloch (1954).…”

An Evaluation of the Effect of Continuous Long-Term Anticoagulant Therapy on the Prognosis of Myocardial Infarction

“…1. It will be seen that in the long-term group, 19 patients had previous angina alone and 39 had no previous coronary artery disease, whereas in the short-term group 12 patients had previous angina alone and 59 had no previous coronary artery disease. The difference between the two groups in respect of the incidence of previous angina alone, that is, without infarction, shows an excess in favor of the long-term group, but the difference is not statistically significant.…”