Fibrinolytic Activity in Hemiplegic Patients

The fibrinolytic activity after venous occlusion of the arms and the legs for 20 min has been studied in 19 patients with hemiplegia. The patients were divided into three groups according to degree of mobilization. In normals the fibrinolytic activity induced by venous occlusion is markedly higher (4 to 6 times) in the arms than in the legs. A marked fibrinolytic activity developed after venous occlusion of the arms in all but one of the patients. In contrast with normals, the patients confined to bed had almost the same fibrinolytic activity in the legs as in the arms, while in patients who were partly mobilized the activity of the legs, compared with that of the arms, decreased with increasing degree of mobilization. No difference was found between paralysed and non‐paralysed arms and legs. The lower local fibrinolytic activity after venous occlusion of the legs, compared with that of the arms in normals, may therefore be due to emptying of the activator from the vessel wall, as a consequence of the habitually vertical position of human beings, a position favouring venous stasis.