A Controlled Study of the Effect of Intermittent Heparin Therapy on the Course of Human Coronary Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Heparin, 200 mg. subcutaneously, was administered twice weekly to a group of 105 patients with known previous myocardial infarction. A comparable control group of 117 individuals received saline placebos. Over a two-year period, there were 21 deaths due to cardiovascular disease in the placebo group, 4 cardiovascular deaths in the heparin group. The observed differences in deaths between the two groups is statistically significant, p < .01. The results indicate that heparin, in the dosage and manner administered, retards the progress of atherosclerotic disease in patients with coronary atherosclerosis.