Consequences of treating false positive heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

Identification of patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia is encumbered by false positive enzyme-linked immuno assay (ELISA) antibody results, therefore a serotonin release assay (SRA) is used for confirmation. Recently, several studies have demonstrated that increasing the optical density (OD) threshold (currently at 0.4) of the antibody test enhances the positive predictive value.

Management of hyperglycemia in diabetic patients with hematologic malignancies during dexamethasone therapy.

Objective: To compare the response to different insulin regimens for management of hyperglycemia in diabetic patients with hematologic malignancies who are receiving dexamethasone.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted to determine whether a basal bolus insulin (BBI) regimen with detemir and aspart is superior to a sliding scale regular insulin (SSI) regimen for management of hyperglycemia in hospitalized diabetic patients receiving dexamethasone.

Results: Forty patients with hematologic malignancies were treated with intravenous (8 to 12 mg/day) or oral (40 mg/day) dexamethasone for 3 days.