Abstract

Fifty-one men with atherosclerotic intermittent claudication and haemorheological abnormalities completed a double-blind, one-year randomised trial of Ticlopidine (500 mg/day), a new antiplatelet agent. Ticlopidine caused significant inhibition of platelet aggregation but did not fully correct abnormalities of coagulation, viscosity, and fibrinolysis. There was no significant improvement in walking ability, Doppler ankle-pressure indices, or calf blood flow. Sustained platelet inhibition for 12 months was insufficient to correct the prothrombotic abnormality of extensive atherosclerosis.