Bivalirudin Use in an Infant With Persistent Clotting on Unfractionated Heparin

Abstract

Bivalirudin is a direct thrombin inhibitor approved for use in adult patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Recently, its use in the pediatric population has increased due to its anti-thrombin-independent mechanism of action. As heparin products produce great inter- and intraindividual variability in pediatric patients, often due to decreased anti-thrombin concentrations in the first year of life, some practitioners have turned to direct thrombin inhibitors, such as bivalirudin, for more predictable pharmacokinetics and effects on bound and circulating thrombin. We report our experience using bivalirudin in a 2-month-old female with recurrent systemic thrombi despite continuous unfractionated heparin infusion. Due to the patient's inability to maintain therapeutic activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) values during heparin infusion, bivalirudin was initiated at 0.1 mg/kg/h and increased due to subtherapeutic aPTTs to a maximum of 0.58 mg/kg/h. Therapeutic aPTTs were achieved at the increased dose; however, the patient's worsening renal impairment with resultant drug accumulation and overwhelming sepsis on day 5 of therapy led to discontinuation of the infusion and the initiation of comfort measures.