Relief of chronic arterial obstruction using intravenous brinase. A control study.

A therapeutic trial using placebo or the thrombolytic enzyme brinase was carried out in a group of patients with chronic arterial obstruction. The patients were observed for 3 months before receiving six intravenous infusions of either saline or brinase over a period of 2 weeks. Ankle blood pressure, Doppler ultrasound scanning, and arteriography were used to establish diagnosis in the patients. No changes were observed during the 3-month pre-observation period. After six brinase infusions, recanalization of 17 out of 27 obstructed arterial segments was recorded and the number of patent segments increased from 11 to 27. No improvement was observed in the placebo-treated patients. The differences between brinase and placebo treatment was statistically significant.