Prospective study of a phenformin-like substance (moroxydine chloride) in patients with deficient vessel wall fibrinolysis.

It is known that ethylestrenol and/or phenformin can normalize deficient fibrinolysis in the vessel walls and prevent recurrent thromboembolism (Hedner et al., 1976; Nilsson et al., 1975, 1981). Because of the side-effects of phenformin, we studied the effect of a phenformin-like substance: moroxydine chloride (Kabi 1886), which unlike phenformin, does not cause lactic acidosis. A prospective randomized clinical trial was carried out on 49 patients with a decreased release capacity of fibrinolytic activity (venous occlusion test for 20 min as described by Robertson et al. (1972) on at least two occasions. They received either moroxydine chloride in a dose of 0.04 g/kg a day or no specific treatment. Most of the patients had earlier at least one episode of deep venous thrombosis. At review 6 months after entering the trial, it was found that out of 26 patients receiving moroxydine chloride, the release capacity was normal in 16 (62%), compared with 5 (22%) of the 23 controls. Dicoumarol alone did not seem to have any effect on the fibrinolysis. The only side-effects were occasional diarrhea in two, which was controlled by reduction of the dose, and itching requiring withdrawal of the drug in one. Moroxydine chloride, thus, seems to normalize a defective release capacity of vessel wall in a fair percentage of cases.