Anticoagulation with hirudin for continuous veno-venous hemodialysis in liver transplantation

Postoperative encephalopathy after orthotopic liver transplantation can be difficult to diagnose. We report a case of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia in a liver transplant patient who had seizures, Due to poor liver function the patient developed hepatorenal syndrome requiring continuous veno-venou s hemodialysis (CVVHD). Initially we used heparin as the anticoagulant. Aft er the diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (FUT) was made, we swi tched to r-hirudin. No serious side effects, e.g. bleeding or immune sensit ization, were seen.