As early as 1943, E. V. Allen and N. W. Barker 1 suggested that anticoagulants might be of value in the treatment of thrombosis of the cerebral arteries.
In 1946, one of us (I. S. W.) 2 reported experiences with anticoagulants in patients with cerebral emboli from myocardial infarction. In 1947, at the meeting of this same section of the A. M. A. convention,4 we reported on cases of cerebral emboli from rheumatic hearts which were so treated. Four years later, in 1950,3 a small series of cases was described in Medical Clinics of North America. Since then, many more patients have been treated and reported in the medical literature.*
Before the advent of successful therapy, either medical or surgical, the exact diagnosis of cerebral vascular lesions was purely academic. However, in the past two decades, surgery has shown great advances. Hematomas, both epidural and subdural, are now