Chemistry of Thrombolysis: Human Fibrinolytic Enzymes.

Abstract

Human thrombotic disease ranks among the leading causes of death in modern civilized society, and any measure which can help to reduce mortality and morbidity from this cause would be of inestimable value. It is only in recent years that the possibility of the successful dissolution of human thrombi or emboli by the use of fibrinolytic enzymes has been seriously considered. There is much to be learned before this becomes more than a theoretical possibility. Our knowledge of fibrinolysis is still fragmentary; we are taking the first faltering steps along what is almost certainly a very hard and rocky path. But even at this stage it is good to take stock, to see what we have achieved. For this reason alone one welcomes this, one of the first, if not the first, books on fibrinolysis to be published in English. Dr. von Kaulla is well qualified to write this book.