Comparison of bovine lung and porcine intestinal heparin for arterial thrombosis in man

Abstract

The clinical effectiveness of bovine lung heparin and porcine intestinal heparin for reducing arterial thrombosis was compared in a study of 64 surgical patients (mean age, 63.8 years). Immediately prior to operation, the radial artery was cannulated. The catheters were flushed continuously at a flow rate of 3 ml/hr with 0.9% sodium chloride solution without heparin or with two units per milliliter of either beef lung or pork intestinal mucosa heparin. After 24 hours, arteriography was performed, and vessel diameter and the amount of thrombus present were recorded. The addition of heparin to the flush solution significantly reduced the accumulation of thrombotic material on the surface of intra-arterial cannulae, thus lowering the incidence of clinically detectable arterial occlusion. No significant difference was found in the anticoagulant effectiveness of beef lung-derived heparin as compared with heparin obtained from pork intestinal mucosa.