Heparin Therapy for Heatstroke

Excerpt

To the editor: In their letter Cornell and colleagues (1) express the view that disseminated intravascular dissemination rather than primary fibrinolysis contributes to the morbidity and mortality of heatstroke, and that consequently the early administration of heparin is advocated.

We proposed that excessive body temperature, as implied by its term heatstroke, should be considered as the primary cause of its manifestations. Hence, heat damage to cells and enzymes should be expected to occur in all the body systems. Because of the time-intensity relation of the effects of physical agents, early and effective cooling off while preventing shivering with a "lytic