“[T]wards end of February 2021, a significant number of venous thromboses (VTE) in unusual sites (cerebral venous-sinus thrombosis [CVST], and splanchnic vein thrombosis [SVT]) in combination with thrombocytopenia were observed in individuals that received the Aztra Zeneca coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine…
Investigators found that these thrombotic thrombocytopenic syndromes shared striking similarities with severe heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), a well-known hypercoagulable disorder caused by platelet-activating antibodies that recognize multimolecular complexes like those formed by PF-4 and anionic heparin, triggering prothrombotic events, with the exception that the above-described patients never were exposed to heparin, a variant known as autoimmune HIT...
Finally, authors proposed to name this new entity Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT) …
Several international societies, including the International Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) have recently published their guidance for the diagnosis and management of VITT, which currently represents a ‘rare entity/phenomenon’, but can affect patients of all ages and both sexes.
We recommend that clinicians be familiarized and be extremely alert and raise awareness among other colleagues regarding the clinical and laboratory features that may trigger a clinical concern for VITT, having an exceptionally low threshold for further investigations in these patients since they could present with non-specific signs and symptoms of VTE in unusual sites like CVST or SVT.”
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