Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Heparin Induced Antibodies in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients and Cardiac Surgery Patients

Introduction The prevalence of heparin-induced antibodies (HIA) varies widely among reported series, but is generally higher in cardiac surgery than hemodialysis patients. This study was designed to explore the reasons behind the different prevalence of HIA in these two populations. Methods Blood samples from all hemodialysis and cardiac surgery patients in our hospital were examined for HIA. Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) was suspected when platelet count was 50% decline in platelet count in the cardiac surgery group. Results 79 hemodialysis and 40 cardiac surgery patients were studied. HIA prevalence was significantly higher in cardiac surgery than in hemodialysis patients (65% v 10.1%, respectively, PConclusions Prevalence of HIA was significantly lower in hemodialysis as compared with cardiac surgery patients. Our data suggest that the observed difference in HIA prevalence was either population dependent, or due to different timing of heparin administration in the two groups.