CH 117 HEPARIN-INDUCED THROMBOCYTOPENIA Flashcards
The incidence of HIT ranges from
less than 0.1% to 7.0%,
The most important determinant of risk factor for HIT
exposure to unfractionated heparin (UFH) or low-molecular-weight- heparin (LMWH)
Note:
incidence of HIT with UFH and LMWH was 2.6% and 0.2%, respectively.
True or False:
The duration of heparin exposure also influences the risk of HIT.
True
True or False:
Advancing age is a major risk factor for HIT
Advancing age is a major risk factor for HIT with a nearly negligible risk in children and
rising rates in adults with each decade beyond 50 years.
Gender at risk for HIT
Female sex was also found to be a risk factor for HIT.
True or False:
Medical patients have consistently been found to have a higher risk of HIT than surgical or trauma patients.
False
Medical patients have consis- tently been found to have a lower risk of HIT than surgical or trauma patients.
Procedures at greater risk for HIT
CABG, ECMO, LVAD
Patients who require cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) or other major arterial surgery, heart/lung transplantation, extracorporeal mem- brane oxygenation (ECMO), or ventricular assist devices are among those with an elevated incidence of HIT.
True or False
Infection can increase the frequency of HIT
True
Patient-Specific Factors for Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia
1) Age (older individuals > pediatrics > neonates)
2) Patient population (surgical > medical > obstetric)
3) Intervention (cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, hemodialysis, trauma, hip and knee arthroscopy)
4) Major trauma > minor trauma
5) Sex (female > male)
6) Bacterial infection ( urinary tract infection, pneumonia, periodontal/ gingival disease)
Heparin-Specific Factors for Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia
Type of heparin (unfractionated heparin > low- molecular-weight heparin)
Duration of heparin
(~5 days > shorter courses)
the only FDA-approved drug for treatment of HIT available in the United States
Argatroban
a hirudin analogue
It is approved for patients with and without HIT undergoing percutaneous vascular procedures.
Bivalirudin
HIT is rare (<0.1%) in pregnant women exposed to heparin.
When it does occur, what is the recommended anticoagulant?
Danaparoid
- does not cross the placenta
- no measurable anti-Xa activity in the cord blood of six neonates who were tested after delivery.
If danaparoid is unavailable, fondaparinux may be considered
- but partial transplacental passage has been demonstrated
True or False
Ongoing heparin exposure during dialysis in patients with a history of HIT is contraindicated.
True - Ongoing heparin exposure during dialysis in patients with a history of HIT is contraindicated.
p 2135
In general, heparin reexposure should be avoided in patients with history of HIT because of the risk of reoccurrence.
An exception to this rule is the use of intraoperative heparin in patients with ______
a history of HIT who are undergoing cardiovascular surgery.
Patients with HIT-associated thromboembolism are typically treated with therapeutic anticoagulation for
3–6 months
True or False:
The optimal duration of anticoagulation in patients with HIT without thrombosis is unknown.
But it generally accepted that anticoagulation be continued in patients with HIT until platelet count recovery.
TRUE (p.2135)
Platelet Transfusion in HIT
T/F
Transfusion may be considered in the setting of clinically significant bleeding, high bleeding risk, or diagnos- tic uncertainty.
TRUE
The HIT immune response wanes over time.
Functional assays become negative at a median of __ days after heparin cessation
Anti-PF4/heparin antibody titers decline more slowly and are no longer detectable in 60% of patients by day ____.
50
100
True or False
Patients with a negative immunologic and functional assay may safely receive UFH during surgery.
True
True or False
Heparin should be avoided in patients with a positive functional assay
True
Appropriate intraoperative anticoagulation of patients with a functional assay that is negative, but an immunologic assay that remains positive:
UNCERTAIN
True or False
Heparin should be discontinued and a nonheparin anticoagulant initiated in patients with an intermediate- or high-probability 4T score until the results of HIT laboratory testing become available.
TRUE
The clinical hallmark of HIT
development of thrombocytopenia after a proximate heparin exposure.