Prevention of cerebral vasospasm with OKY-046 an imidazole derivative and a thromboxane synthetase inhibitor. A preliminary co-operative clinical study.

The prevention of cerebral vasospasm with OKY-046, an imidazole derivative and a thromboxane synthetase inhibitor, was studied co-operatively at ten neurosurgical services. Intravenous administrations of 2, 5 or 10 mu/kg/minute of OKY-046 were given continuously from the earliest possible day to the 14th SAH-day to 82 patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysm. Sixty-eight patients (83%) showed moderate to high high-density (SAH) in their initial CTs. Angiographic vasospasms were seen in 58 patients, representing 71% of all cases or 81% of the 72 cases for which angiograms were available: the vasospasms of 45 patients (55 or 63%) were moderate to severe. Symptomatic vasospasm occurred, however, only in 27 patients (33%): in 18 of those cases, moreover, the symptoms were mild or transient. The conditions of the patients at one month after the SAH were classified into 9 grades from 0 (normal) to 8 (deceased). Fifty-two patients (63%) were classified as 0 or 1, and 64 (78%) as better than 3 (possible daily life unaided). The administration of OKY-046 was proven to decrease TXB2 in the blood. This paper emphasizes the effectiveness of the drug for symptomatic vasospasm, and supports our previous contention that cerebral microthrombosis may play an important role in the pathogenesis of cerebral vasospasm.