Acute Limb Ischemia After Cardiac Surgery: Looking for the White Clot Syndrome

Two weeks after undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, a 59-year-old patient presented with acute right-limb ischemia. The probability of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia was high and heparin antibody immunoassays were positive, so heparin anticoagulation was replaced by argatroban....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rémy Hamdan, Valentin Crespy, Georges Tarris, Philippe Savard
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American College of Physicians 2022-05-01
Series:Annals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases
Online Access:https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/aimcc.2022.0091
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850202488720850944
author Rémy Hamdan
Valentin Crespy
Georges Tarris
Philippe Savard
author_facet Rémy Hamdan
Valentin Crespy
Georges Tarris
Philippe Savard
author_sort Rémy Hamdan
collection DOAJ
description Two weeks after undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, a 59-year-old patient presented with acute right-limb ischemia. The probability of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia was high and heparin antibody immunoassays were positive, so heparin anticoagulation was replaced by argatroban. An emergency right femoral thrombectomy yielded a macroscopically white thrombus that was rich in platelets and leukocytes on histopathological and immunologic analysis. Given that the serotonin-release assay is the gold standard and is technically demanding, type 2 heparin-induced thrombopenia is challenging to diagnose with certainty after cardiac surgery, so the white appearance of a thrombus obtained by emergency thrombectomy may help in decision-making.
format Article
id doaj-art-ab88d697296b4ab49bdec1594da9537e
institution OA Journals
issn 2767-7664
language English
publishDate 2022-05-01
publisher American College of Physicians
record_format Article
series Annals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases
spelling doaj-art-ab88d697296b4ab49bdec1594da9537e2025-08-20T02:11:46ZengAmerican College of PhysiciansAnnals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases2767-76642022-05-011310.7326/aimcc.2022.0091Acute Limb Ischemia After Cardiac Surgery: Looking for the White Clot SyndromeRémy Hamdan0Valentin Crespy1Georges Tarris2Philippe Savard31Department of Angiology, Dijon Bourgogne University Hospital, Dijon, France2Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Dijon Bourgogne University Hospital, Dijon, France3Department of Pathology, Dijon Bourgogne University Hospital, Dijon, France4Department of Biological Haematology, Dijon Bourgogne University Hospital, Dijon, FranceTwo weeks after undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, a 59-year-old patient presented with acute right-limb ischemia. The probability of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia was high and heparin antibody immunoassays were positive, so heparin anticoagulation was replaced by argatroban. An emergency right femoral thrombectomy yielded a macroscopically white thrombus that was rich in platelets and leukocytes on histopathological and immunologic analysis. Given that the serotonin-release assay is the gold standard and is technically demanding, type 2 heparin-induced thrombopenia is challenging to diagnose with certainty after cardiac surgery, so the white appearance of a thrombus obtained by emergency thrombectomy may help in decision-making.https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/aimcc.2022.0091
spellingShingle Rémy Hamdan
Valentin Crespy
Georges Tarris
Philippe Savard
Acute Limb Ischemia After Cardiac Surgery: Looking for the White Clot Syndrome
Annals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases
title Acute Limb Ischemia After Cardiac Surgery: Looking for the White Clot Syndrome
title_full Acute Limb Ischemia After Cardiac Surgery: Looking for the White Clot Syndrome
title_fullStr Acute Limb Ischemia After Cardiac Surgery: Looking for the White Clot Syndrome
title_full_unstemmed Acute Limb Ischemia After Cardiac Surgery: Looking for the White Clot Syndrome
title_short Acute Limb Ischemia After Cardiac Surgery: Looking for the White Clot Syndrome
title_sort acute limb ischemia after cardiac surgery looking for the white clot syndrome
url https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/aimcc.2022.0091
work_keys_str_mv AT remyhamdan acutelimbischemiaaftercardiacsurgerylookingforthewhiteclotsyndrome
AT valentincrespy acutelimbischemiaaftercardiacsurgerylookingforthewhiteclotsyndrome
AT georgestarris acutelimbischemiaaftercardiacsurgerylookingforthewhiteclotsyndrome
AT philippesavard acutelimbischemiaaftercardiacsurgerylookingforthewhiteclotsyndrome