Successful thrombolysis after pulmonary endarterectomy.

Schmidt, Kathrin I; Fries, Peter; Feldner, Susanne K; Schäfers, Hans-Joachim · Ann Thorac Surg · 2010

case_report · Level V

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Abstract

We report the case of a 51-year-old woman who underwent pulmonary endarterectomy for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. On postoperative day 1 she developed bilateral pulmonary thrombosis due to preoperatively undiagnosed heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. Systemic thrombolytic therapy with alteplase on postoperative days 5 and 6 resulted in marked clinical improvement. To our knowledge this is the first report of successful thrombolysis of pulmonary thrombosis due to heparin-induced thrombocytopenia after pulmonary endarterectomy.

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