Coagulation effects of cyclosporine in liver transplantation.

Thromboembolic complications have been described in graft recipients receiving cyclosporine (CS). Whether these individuals have a hypercoagulable state when compared to healthy controls was evaluated. Recalcification times (RT) of saline-incubated citrated whole blood and endotoxin-incubated whole blood of both control and transplant patients were determined. There was no difference between the RT saline or RT endotoxin groups in both patient groups. These data suggest that CS alone has no procoagulant effects, but that additional factors such as endotoxin and/or graft-induced antigen production may provoke the thrombotic complications.