The Utrecht Double Blind Trial of Long -Term Anticoagulant Treatment after Myocardial Infarction

A prospective double blind trial of long-term anticoagulant medication following myocardial infarction was carried out in Utrecht from May 1st 1964 to January 15th 1966. With the collaboration of all the Utrecht cardiologists, all their patients with acute myocardial infarction were included in this trial after a 4-month interval, to be distributed strictly at random over a phenprocoumon and a placebo group. Supplemental therapy and follow-up were identical in both groups. Of the total of 138 patients included in the trial, 68 received phenprocoumon and 70 were given a placebo. One patient in the phenprocoumon group died, and 8 patients in the placebo group. This difference is significant (p <0.01). The difference in the number of reinfarctions was not significant (5 cases and 7 cases, respectively).