Effects of triflusal in patients with prosthetic heart valves.

The biological effects of a new antiplatelet agent, triflusal, were evaluated in patients with cardiac valvular prostheses. Each patient received 900 mg/day of oral triflusal for 30 days. Triflusal significantly inhibited platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (1 to 5 mumol) or epinephrine (12.5 mumol), showing a slight effect on bleeding time (basal: 6 +/- 1.7 min; 30 days of treatment: 8.0 +/- 2.7 min). Serum levels of thromboxane B2 were significantly reduced during treatment, but changes in serum levels of 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha were not observed, suggesting that triflusal does not affect prostacyclin biosynthesis by the vascular wall. The results show that triflusal has a marked inhibitory and selective effect on platelet function in patients with cardiac valvular prostheses.