PASADENA : Heart Attack Patients Sought for Study

Huntington Memorial Hospital is among nearly 300 institutions in the United States and Canada to participate in a large-scale clinical study on the effects of aspirin use among heart attack patients.

The four-year trial will track 6,000 patients. It will study whether a combination of aspirin and an anticoagulant--which delays or prevents blood clotting--is more effective than aspirin alone in the long-term survival of heart attack patients. The anticoagulant is a drug called Coumadin.

Huntington is one of 30 Los Angeles-area institutions to participate. Researchers in the Los Angeles area hope to enroll more than 650 patients through Dec. 31. To be eligible, men and women between ages 21 and 85 must have had a heart attack three days to three weeks before entry in the study. They also must be willing to be involved in a comprehensive medical follow-up for up to four years.

Information: (818) 397-3629.