Drug-induced thrombocytopenia in the coronary care unit

Drug-induced thrombocytopenia is a phenomenon that causes significant morbi dity and mortality among patients. Practitioners should be able to recogniz e the clinical manifestations of drug-induced thrombocytopenia, differentia te it from other causes, and manage it appropriately. Numerous case reports have documented drug-induced causes of thrombocytopenia. The following art icle focuses on the characteristics and management of drug-induced thromboc ytopenia secondary to medications commonly encountered in the coronary care unit. Pharmacotherapeutic agents that are most commonly implicated in this setting include ticlopidine, unfractioned heparin, glycoprotein (GP)IIb/II Ia inhibitors, H-2-receptor antagonists, quinidine and antibiotics. Case re ports were obtained through a comprehensive search of the Medicine database and subsequently complemented by bibliographic reviews of the agents just specified. Reports that exhibited possible, probable, and definite associat ions with drug-induced thrombocytopenia are included in the article.