[Postoperative period in cardiac surgery: don't forget heparin induced thrombocytopenia!]

Type II heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) has a low incidence in cardiac surgery, but its mortality once declared is high. Its clinical recognition can be difficult with these patients who usually have thrombocytopenia in postoperative period and who are predisposed to develop HIT prematurely. Thromboses in this context must be specific, and treatment, which is nowadays well codified, must be begun without waiting for biologic results. Besides, specificity of Elisa's test is weakened in this population since there is a high rate of serum conversion; yet, its preoperative realization associated with pre-test probability scoring for HIT, can turn out useful.