Safe and Effective Use of Chronic Transdermal Estradiol for Life-Threatening Uremic Bleeding in a Patient with Coronary Artery Disease

Uremic platelet dysfunction rarely causes significant bleeding in adequately dialyzed patients. When encountered, the management is complicated by a lack of well-supported treatment modalities. Estrogen use in uremic platelet dysfunction has been described, but enthusiasm for the treatment has been dampened by the risk of thrombotic events in vasculopathic dialysis patients. We present a patient on long-term peritoneal dialysis with coronary disease who developed recurrent life-threatening bleeding episodes secondary to uremia, where treatment with transdermal estrogen was used safely and effectively for a 24-month period.