Treatment of intermittent claudication with defibrotide or mesoglycan. A double blind study

Forty-four patients with intermittent claudication were included and randomised in two groups respectively treated with oral defibrotide (one 400 mg tablet bid) or oral mesoglycan (one 24 mg tablet bid) for 6 months. Twenty-two subjects completed the study in the defibrotide group and 20 in the mesoglycan group. The two treatments were well tolerated and the two drop outs in the mesoglycan group were not due to medical causes. In the defibrotide group, after 1 month the pain-free walking distance (PFWD) increased from 473 +/- 96 m to 586 +/- 84 (p < 0.05). The walking distance (WD) increased from 767 +/- 125 m to 898 +/- 109 (p < 0.05). After 6 months the posterior tibial pressure (PTP) at the end of the treadmill exercise test also increased from 40 +/- 19 to 63 +/- 12 (p < 0.05). No variations in PFWD, WD and PTP were observed in the mesoglycan group. The improvement in walking was possibly due to the action of defibrotide increasing local fibrinolysis and decreasing the distal vasospasm present in subjects with peripheral vascular disease and intermittent claudication.