Acute profound thrombocytopenia associated with eptifibatide therapy

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Microfluidics in Assessing Platelet Function
06:47

Microfluidics in Assessing Platelet Function

Published on: November 8, 2024

Jeff Nagge1, Cynthia Jackevicius, Vladimir Dzavik

  • 1Interventional Cardiology and Thrombosis Treatment Program, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. jeff.nagge@utoronto.ca

Pharmacotherapy
|March 12, 2003
PubMed

An 80-year-old woman and a 79-year-old man underwent urgent percutaneous coronary intervention and received adjunctive eptifibatide. Platelet counts in both patients fell to below 20 x 10(3)/mm3 within 4 hours of eptifibatide administration. Reports in the medical literature reinforce the importance of recognizing that eptifibatide can cause acute profound thrombocytopenia. All three available glycoprotein IIb-IIIa inhibitors--abciximab, eptifibatide, and tirofiban--have been associated with the development of this disorder. Thus, clinicians should routinely monitor platelet counts in patients receiving glycoprotein IIb-IIIa inhibitors within 2-4 hours of the start of the infusion.

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