Publisher's Synopsis
Low molecular weight heparins are now licensed drugs in several European countries, and they are being increasingly used in the prophylaxis and treatment of venous thromboembolism, as well as other disease states. The authors have been involved in the development of low molecular weight heparin over the past 15 years or so, particularly in relation to studying aspects of the biochemistry and standardization of the drug, as well as in animal and human pharmacology studies. In this review of the field, they bring together the main aspects of this improved version of a drug that has long been a mainstay of anticoagulant and antithrombotic therapy, namely, conventional or unfractionated heparin. They have attempted to summarize the current position of low molecular weight heparin as an anti-thrombotic agent, acknowledging its undoubted advantages, but without endorsing some of the more extravagant claims that have been made.
