Argatroban Versus Bivalirudin in the Treatment of Suspected or Confirmed Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia. J Pharm Pract 2019 Oct 23:897190019882866
Date
10/28/2019Pubmed ID
31645190DOI
10.1177/0897190019882866Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85074444502 1 CitationAbstract
BACKGROUND: Argatroban and bivalirudin are direct thrombin inhibitors (DTIs) used for the treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). The purpose of this study was to determine whether either agent offered an advantage in efficacy and ability to remain within the targeted therapeutic anticoagulation range.
METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective, observational cohort study at a large academic medical center. The primary efficacy outcome was time to therapeutic anticoagulation, defined as total number of hours to achieve 2 consecutive activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) values in goal range.
RESULTS: A total of 91 patients were included in the analysis. Average time to initial therapeutic anticoagulation was 4.71 hours and 9.8 hours for the argatroban and bivalirudin groups, respectively (P < .01).
CONCLUSIONS: Argatroban may be advantageous compared to bivalirudin in achieving initial therapeutic anticoagulation goals among patients with suspected or confirmed HIT.
