Grant: Project Grant

Platelets are small cells in the blood that help control bleeding. Heparin is a blood thinner (anticoagulant) used in major surgeries, such as heart surgery, and to manage heart attacks and strokes. Patients receiving heparin may have an allergic-type reaction called heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Patients with HIT have low platelets (thrombocytopenia) and can develop severe clotting (gelling of blood so it no longer flows) causing loss of limbs, heart attacks, stroke and even death. So this drug (heparin), which usually helps patients, can actually cause more strokes and heart attacks in some people. HIT is a serious problem because it causes catastrophic effects in patients. The problem starts because some people develop attack proteins (antibodies) when they are given heparin. Some of these dangerous HIT antibodies attack platelets. However, other antibodies look the same but do not attack platelets. Testing if people have HIT is a major problem because most tests cannot tell the difference between the dangerous antibodies and the antibodies that do not cause HIT. Our first goal will be to find ways to determine ahead of time who will react to heparin and who will not. If we know that a patient will react to heparin, then the doctor can avoid its use. Our second goal is to understand why some patients develop HIT while others do not. We will study specific cells in patients to see if there is a change during HIT compared to the ones that do not have HIT during major heart surgery. Our group has the knowledge and the equipment to carry out all planned experiments. We are a HIT testing centre for many hospitals across Canada and we are located in an area that specializes in both heart- and blood-diseases providing us with ongoing access to patients with HIT. Once we understand why some patients get HIT and others do not, we will be able to provide better tests and better patient care while avoiding the disease.