Ischemic Stroke Due to Heparin-induced Thrombocytopenia During Severe COVID-19 Infection

Intern Med. 2022 Jul 5. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.9531-22. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTA 53-year-old woman with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia was admitted and treated with intravenous unfractionated heparin for thromboprophylaxis under general anesthesia with mechanical ventilation. She developed right hemiparesis after hospitalization due to a large hemorrhagic infarction. Her platelet count decreased from 243,000/μL at administration to 121,000/μL. Anti-platelet factor 4-heparin antibody testing was positive according to a latex immunoturbidimetric assay. She was therefore diagnosed with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. We immediately stopped the heparin and started argatroban; the platelet count recovered, and thrombosis did not relapse. Physicians should consider heparin-induced thrombocytopenia as a cause of ischemic stroke in patients with COVID-19 infection.PMID:35793954 | DOI:10.2169/internalmedicine.9531-22

Source: Internal Medicine - July 6, 2022 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Yasutaka Murakami Shuhei Okazaki Makoto Yamamoto Rei Sakurai Jyunki Jinno Tatsuhiko Ozono Kensuke Ikenaka Yasufumi Gon Kenichi Todo Tsutomu Sasaki Haruhiko Hirata Akinori Uchiyama Hideki Mochizuki Source Type: research