Safety and tolerability of high-intensity anticoagulation with bivalirudin during neuroendovascular procedures.

Background Bivalirudin (Angiomax) is a direct thrombin inhibitor used in interventional cardiology due to its several distinct advantages over heparin, most notably a shorter half-life and a potentially superior safety profile. Bivalirudin is also safe to use in patients with active or remote heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. Our objective was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of high-intensity anticoagulation using bivalirudin during neuroendovascular procedures.