Effect of suloctidil on platelet function in patients with shortened platelet survival time.

The effect of suloctidil (600 mg/day) on platelet survival time (PST) and plasma and urine betathromboglobulin (BTG) was studied in a double-blind, placebo-controlled six-week crossover trial in 13 patients with shortened PST (<110 hrs, exponential model). Mean PST after suloctidil (110.6 hrs) was significantly higher than in the placebo phase (94.5 hrs) (p=0.04). Mean plasma BTG was significantly lower during the suloctidil phase (42.8 ng/ml) compared with the placebo phase (65.8 ng/ml) (p=0.02), but there was no significant difference in urine BTG. These results suggest that suloctidil provides a platelet protective effect and therefore may be of benefit in reducing the frequency of platelet mediated thromboembolic events.