Spontaneous platelet aggregation in heparin-treated patients.

To evaluate the influence of heparin on spontaneous platelet aggregation (SPA) two groups of patients, one treated with heparin and the other without heparin, were compared. The frequency of SPA is highly increased in patients with prosthetic heart valves treated with heparin as compared to patients not treated with heparin. Thus, the high frequency of SPA in prosthetic heart valve carriers treated with heparin might be due either to the prosthesis itself or to heparin. In contrast, in patients with thromboembolic disease, SPA does not seem to be more frequent in heparin-treated than in untreated patients.