Thrombosis Liquidated

Although almost 10% of middle-aged persons who have major operations afterward develop thrombosis* -- a serious disease caused by clots which jam the blood vessels -- they don't need to. That fact was conclusively documented last week by two Swedish doctors who rounded up the data on a preventive. For over a year, doctors have occasionally used this new treatment to prevent thrombosis. It consists of large doses of heparin, a natural anticoagulant manufactured by the liver.

In the Journal of the American Medical Association, Drs. Clarence Crafoord and Erik Jorpes of Stockholm told how they injected heparin (made from the lungs and livers of cattle) in 325 middle-aged patients who had had serious operations.

Injections were given four hours after the operation, continued four times a day for over a week. Not one of the patients developed thrombosis. Their wounds all healed in normal time. Of 1,111 patients not given heparin, 9% had various forms of thrombosis.

* Not to be confused with embolism. A thrombus stays in one place; an embolus, which might be a blood clot, or a pocket of air or oil, moves through the blood stream. If an embolus settles down, it becomes a thrombus.

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