MISCELLANEA
WOEIGOH: a problem with heparin
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
One of the many impressive features of modern medical science is that the WOEIGOH (What on earth is going on here?) reaction is quickly activated and often leads to rapid and practical results. The swift identification of new pathogens has been the result several times in recent years, but the latest example concerns the lethal contamination of some batches of heparin (Takashi K Kishimoto and colleagues. New England Journal of Medicine 2008;358:2457–67; see also editorial, ibid: 2505–9 and Perspective article, ibid: 2429–31).
In the USA hypotensive episodes in patients receiving heparin are reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Towards the end of 2007 and in early 2008 there was a dramatic increase in such notifications. Between 1 January 2007 and mid-April 2008, 81 deaths related to reactions to heparin were reported. Cooperation between regulatory bodies, pharmaceutical companies and physicians led to the suspect heparin being traced
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