LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the Editor will be published, when suitable, and as space permits. They should not exceed 1,000 words (typed double spaced) in length, and may be subject to editing or abridgment.

Rebound Hypercoagulability To the Editor: The article by Link et al1 reported a dramatic increase in the risk of cerebral infarction (42 % per year) during the four months following cessation of anticoagulant therapy in stroke patients, stating there "was no obvious explanation for our high stroke rate.' ' Olsson et al2 reported two cerebral infarctions within one month of cessation of anticoagulants among 67 TIA patients (a risk extrapolated to 36 % per year). A possible explanation for the high stroke rate following withdrawal of anticoagu-lants noted in these studies is a rebound hypercoagulable state induced by cessation of anticoagulants. The existence of rebound hypercoagulability after cessation of Cou-madin is controversial.3 Tinker and Tarhan,4 for example, reported no thrombotic complications in 159 patients with prosthetic heart valves in whom Coumadin was discountinued for elective surgery, suggesting n