SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF MASSIVE PULMONARY-EMBOLISM AFTER CORONARY-ARTERY BYPASS-GRAFTING DUE TO HEPARIN-INDUCED THROMBOCYTOPENIA

Massive pulmonary embolism is a rare complication in patients undergoi ng coronary artery bypass grafting. Frequently patients have had expos ure to heparin before the operation. In this article we report a patie nt who 6 days after a cardiac operation suffered a massive pulmonary e mbolism. The patient was later discovered to have heparin-associated t hrombocytopenia with serum heparin antibody. We recommend patients rec eiving heparin have frequent platelet counts and those with induced th rombocytopenia undergo sensitivity testing.