Korean J Hematol.  2005 Mar;40(1):28-33. 10.5045/kjh.2005.40.1.28.

Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT) in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome: Incidence and Clinical Feature, Retrospective Study

• Kim MJ
• Kim YJ
• Kim JG
• Kim TK
• Yang SM
• Park SH
• Ahn TH
• Shin EK
• Bang SM
• Cho EK
• Shin DB
• Lee JH

• KMID: 2252363
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5045/kjh.2005.40.1.28

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The aims of this study were to find the incidence and clinical features of Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) in acute coronary syndrome patients treated with unfractionated heparin.
METHODS
The medical records of 554 patients treated with unfractionated heparin (UFH) for their coronary artery diseases at the Gachon Medical School Gil Heart Center during 2002~2003. were retrospectively reviewed. The gourp eligible group inclusion in this study was comprised of 338 patients with acute coronary syndrome.
RESULTS
The median duration of UFH administration was 6 days, ranging from 1 to 22 days. Among the eligible patients, 40 (11.8%) received UFH for > 96 hours, and developed thrombocytopenia, which involved a platelet count decrease to less than 100,000 per cubic millimeter or a 50% or greater decrease in the platelet count.
CONCLUSION
Despith the limitations of retrospective analyses, the present study shows that thrombocytopenia is relatively common in acute coronary syndrome patients treated with UFH, but did not account for HIT associated complication, such as thrombosis. When clinicians recognize the development of HIT without a thrombocytopenia related disease, many will stop the use of heparin for its management.

Keyword

Heparin; Thrombocytopenia; Coronary artery disease

MeSH Terms

Acute Coronary Syndrome*
Coronary Artery Disease
Heart
Heparin
Humans
Incidence*
Medical Records
Platelet Count
Retrospective Studies*
Schools, Medical
Thrombocytopenia*
Thrombosis
Heparin

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1. Serial platelet counts of 298 patients with non-HIT and 40 patients with HIT. The dotted lines indicate the mean±SD platelet count in non-HIT patients. The bold lines are shown for patients with HIT.

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