[Long term prevention of thromboembolic accidents with acetylsalicylic acid in auricular fibrillation patients].

For the past few years various authors have reported the antiplatelet action and prolongation of bleeding time with the use of acetyl-salicilic acid. In the present work, we review the frequency of thromboembolism in a group of patients with rheumatic or sclerotic heart disease with atrial fibrillation, in which the treatment with coumarins was suspended and substituted for 1 gram of aspirin P.O. daily. The results were compared with a similar group studied by Cárdenas and col. During the time of the observation 10 patients had 14 thromboembolic accidents, slightly predominated by the emboli in the inferior members and in the cerebral vascular territory. The mortality was 2.5% and in 9 patients hemorrhages of little importance appeared, which could have been caused by the ASA, although it can not be proven. In comparing the results of this work with the above mentioned of Cárdenas, it appeared that the number of thromboemboli, of deaths, and secondary accidents in the group treated with ASA was less than in the group which received coumarin or which were maintained without treatment. Based on the results, it can be concluded that it is possible to substitute the coumarins with acetyl-salicilic acid in the prevention of thromboembolism, in patient with rheumatic or sclerotic heart disease with atrial fibrillation.