Dabigatran overdose: a case report of acute hepatitis. Extracorporeal treatment

Mariagrazia Porru1, Antonella Mameli2, Maria E Cianchetti1

  • 1Internal Medicine and Haemocoagulopathies Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria (A.O.U.), Presidio "Duilio Casula", University of Cagliari, SS 554, Bivio per Sestu, 09042, Monserrato, Cagliari, Italy.

Dabigatran is an oral, direct thrombin inhibitor approved by international regulatory agencies for stroke prevention in patients with paroxysmal or persistent non-rheumatic atrial fibrillation (AF). The benefits of dabigatran are widely described, but its use in the geriatric population is not without risk. Chronic kidney disease is a common comorbidity with AF, and thus frequent checks of renal function in elderly patients are recommended. We report a case of dabigatran intoxication in an elderly man affected by heart failure and worsening renal function, who developed acute hepatitis and coma, which was successfully treated with continuous veno-venous hemodiafiltration. Although extracorporeal therapy has been suggested as a strategy for clearing dabigatran during acute bleeding, this approach may be useful in other dabigatran-related, life-threatening conditions, such as that described in this report.

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