If the Platelets Are Low, Is It HIT?

Intraoperative heparin exposure and intra-/postoperative thrombocytopenia occur universally with cardiac surgery. Sometimes, heparin triggers formation of highly pathological platelet-activating antibodies that cause thrombocytopenia, hypercoagulability, and greatly increased risk of venous and/or arterial thrombosis beginning approximately 1 week post-surgery, a disorder called heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). The challenge is to …