Heparin: Heparin induced thrombocytopenia.

A 33-year-old woman developed heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) during anticoagulant therapy with heparin. She was on the lung transplant waiting list and experienced a rapid decline in health, requiring a bridge to lung transplant using extracorporeal life support (ECLS) and heparin as an anticoagulant. However, after 13 days, she developed a serious complication of HIT. Her HIT was managed with appropriate blood component therapy and a change in anticoagulation therapy. After 35 days, she underwent a successful bilateral sequential lung transplant but required further support with veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) due to complications. She was eventually discharged with ongoing post-transplant care. [Extracted from the article]