Heparin-induced thrombosis with a normal platelet count
Case report published in Critical care and resuscitation : journal of the Australasian Academy of Critical Care Medicine (2007)
Abstract
Heparin is commonly used in the intensive care unit for preventing and treating thromboembolic disease. One of its more significant complications is heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), an immune-mediated disorder which can provoke an extreme prothrombotic state. We describe an unusual presentation of HIT, where thrombocytopenia was absent.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Summary
This case report describes an unusual presentation of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia in which thrombocytopenia was absent despite the immune-mediated, extreme prothrombotic state that characterizes this complication of heparin therapy.
Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy
This case report describes an unusual presentation of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) in the intensive care setting in which the characteristic drop in platelet count was absent, illustrating that this immune-mediated prothrombotic complication of heparin can occur without overt thrombocytopenia. It is relevant to the hirudotherapy story because HIT is the clinical problem that drove development of non-heparin anticoagulants, including the leech-derived direct thrombin inhibitor hirudin and its analogues, situating leech-secretome anticoagulants within the management of heparin-related complications. As a single case report it offers a clinical cautionary observation, not generalizable evidence, and the abstract makes no mention of leech therapy or hirudin.
Citation
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