A 49-year-old woman presented with acute coronary syndrome for which she received aspirin, clopidogrel, atorvastatin, enoxaparin, and tenecteplase at another facility. She was then transferred to our institute for further management. She underwent coronary angiography which was suggestive of triple vessel disease. As the patient was in acute congestive heart failure (Killip IV) with pulmonary edema, she was intubated and mechanically ventilated. She underwent coronary artery bypass grafting surgery the following day where she received 20,000U of unfractionated heparin.\nOn postoperative day (POD) 6, the patient developed right pedal edema with cyanosis. Bilateral lower limbs Arterial Doppler was normal. Venous Doppler of the right lower limb was suggestive of thrombosis of the right Common Femoral, Superficial Femoral, Popliteal, and Great Saphenous Veins. She also had progressively worsening thrombocytopenia in which the platelet count dropped from 297 × 109/L on day 1 of postenoxaparin exposure to a nadir of 20 × 109/L on day 8. With a suspicion of HIT and thrombosis (HITT), enoxaparin was replaced with fondaparinux on POD 7. She tested positive for HIT type 2 antibodies on day 10. Her platelets started improving by POD 11 [].\nOn POD 13, two-dimensional echocardiography done was suggestive of a left ventricular thrombus (with an ejection fraction of 25%) which resolved completely by POD 44 with anticoagulation. Fondaparinux was bridged with oral Vitamin K Antagonist-Acenocoumarol for HITT and PCD. Once there was a line of demarcation for gangrene, she underwent a right forefoot amputation on POD 34.\nThe patient was discharged on POD 47 with medications for cardiac failure along with acenocoumarol.
A 49-year-old Chinese man sustained severe knife trauma and was referred to a local hospital. An exploratory laparotomy showed traumatic rupture of his left external iliac vein with massive intraperitoneal bleeding, but his iliac artery was intact. To rescue him, the proximal and distal parts of his injured external iliac vein were ligated (there was no vascular surgeon in the local hospital); however, his left leg quickly became severely swollen, cyanotic and pulseless. Two hours after the first operation, he was transferred to the emergency department of our university hospital with endotracheal tube intubation. On physical examination, he was tachycardic (142 beats per minute), hypotensive (86/50mmHg). His left lower extremity was markedly edematous, cyanotic, mottled (Figure \na) and had no palpable pulse, but his right lower extremity was normal. He was diagnosed with posttraumatic PCD. Considering the high risk of pulmonary embolism during the next surgical procedure, an OptEase® retrievable vena cava filter (Cordis Corp., New Brunswick, NJ, USA) was placed in his inferior vena cava via his right femoral vein under digital subtraction angiography (Figure \n). His abdomen was immediately reopened while his left leg was also prepared for treatment.During the second emergent laparotomy, there was less blood in his pelvic cavity. No active bleeding was identified. His left iliac vein and artery were exposed and his entire iliac artery appeared normal and without rupture. His external iliac vein was ligated but not transected, connected only by the posterior wall, and the caudal part of his iliac vein was significantly dilated. By replacing the vascular clamp in the proximal and distal parts of the rupture, the ligations on both sides of the venous rupture were resolved. A wedge-shaped rupture was revealed, approximately 4cm in length, on the anterolateral side of his left external iliac vein. The edges of the venous rupture were smooth as a result of the knife trauma. Although the ligated parts of his iliac vein appeared congested, the lumen was smooth and contained no clot. The damaged vein was repaired with continuous 4-0 Prolene sutures (Ethicon, Inc, Somerville, NJ, USA) after the patient was systemically heparinized with 5000 units heparin. Before the sutures were finally ligated, the clamp at the cranial aspect was removed and the caudal clamp was left in place. After the backflow was clear of thrombotic debris, the clamp on his caudal iliac vein was removed and the clamp at the cranial aspect left in place. The left leg was gently massaged from calf to thigh; as a result, some thrombi in the caudal part of the vein were flushed out with the venous blood flow, and the sutures were finally ligated until the venous blood was free of thrombus. His iliac vein, although narrower after repair, was patent (Figure \n).\nAfter the operation, the patient was sent to the surgical intensive care unit with mechanical ventilation. Despite the fact that his left leg showed some signs of compartment syndrome with blisters in his calf, fasciotomy was not performed. He received systemic anticoagulation, initially with low-molecular-weight heparin, then with warfarin, titrating to an international normalized ratio (INR) between 2.0 and 2.5.Three days postoperatively, mechanical ventilation was discontinued and his signs and symptoms improved dramatically. Pulses in his left lower extremity became palpable on postoperative day 5, and the swelling and discoloration decreased. On postoperative day 30, he was taken off the OptEase® filter and the venogram showed a small amount of residual thrombus in his left external iliac vein (Figure \n). The inferior vena cava was patent, with no residual defects around the filter and no thrombus in the filter. He was discharged from the hospital in a stable condition, with full resolution of symptoms, on postoperative day 35 (Figure \nb). He was mostly asymptomatic at a recent 3-month follow-up visit except for slight edema in his left leg after walking. He continues on warfarin, maintaining an INR between 2.0 and 2.5, and wears elastic compression stockings.