[A cholesterol embolism during heparin treatment].

The cholesterol embolization is a rare complication of atherosclerosis. A direct implication of the treatment with anticoagulants in the etiology of the disease has been questioned, and now such therapy is considered more as an adjuvant factor with angiographic procedures than as a cause. A 60-year-old patient with an ischemic cardiomyopathy presented cholesterol embolization syndrome, confirmed by cutaneous biopsy histologic examination during treatment with heparin. Spontaneous evolution was favourable and only limited amputation of the lower limbs were required. The authors think that cholesterol emboli have a direct relationship to the treatment with heparin in this case, there being no other causes to justify its appearance.