Platelet survival in patients previously resuscitated from out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation.

Platelet survival times were measured in 11 ambulatory patients within 5 to 21 months of out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation unassociated with acute myocardial infarction. The mean platelet survival time of 7.7 +/- 2.1 days was shortened when compared with 28 normal controls of similar age (9.0 +/- 1.0 days, p less than 0.03) but not different from 56 other patients with stable angina pectoris (6.85 +/- 1.81 days, p less than 0.2). One patient with a near normal survival time of 7.5 days experienced recurrent ventricular fibrillation without associated acute myocardial infarction 1 month following the platelet survival study. Although one platelet inhibitory agent, sulfinpyrazone, may lower the incidence of sudden cardiac death following acute myocardial infarction, the shortened platelet survival time in the group of patients experiencing out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation did not distinguish them from others with coronary artery disease.