The course of anticoagulation after extracorporeal photochemotherapy.

摘要

During extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP) heparin is added to the extracorporeal circulation to avoid clotting. It has not been investigated whether and to what extend this procedure influences coagulation in patients after ECP. In this study activated partial thrombaplastin time (aPTT) and anti-factor Xa were monitored for up to 4 h after ECP in 10 patients. We found that anticoagulation followed the typical course of intravenously applied heparin: immediately after reinfusion anti-Xa was high (>1 IU/ml) and aPTT was prolonged to more than 180 s followed by a rapid decline and reaching normal values within 3-4 h in all patients. We conclude that anticoagulation and increased risk of bleeding after ECP is confined to a short period immediately following treatment. Physicians using ECP should be aware of the course of anticoagulation associated with this treatment.