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Favorable Cangrelor Review

The FDA study section reported a favorable review for the antiplatelet drug cangrelor developed by The Medicines Company, New Jersey. Read the committee report here. Cangrelor now awaits full FDA approval.

Antiplatelet Therapy

Medical Laboratory Professional Week

Welcome to our international Medical Laboratory Professionals Week April 19–25, 2015.

ASCLS-Wisconsin Annual Meeting Handouts

The American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Wisconsin Branch hosts their annual state convention on April 22–23, 2015, preceded by their Student Bowl on April 21. The meeting is scheduled for the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel and Convention Center in Appleton, and features many excellent hematology and hemostasis presentations, as evident from the attached program. […]

World Hemophilia Day April 17

From the World Federation of Hemophilia (Thanks to Elaine Benoit, Precision BioLogic Inc for the heads-up): Building a Family of Support on April 17, World Hemophilia Day Every year on April 17, World Hemophilia Day is observed around the world to increase awareness of hemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders. This is a critical effort […]

Bleeding Disorders

Correction for HCT >55%

Joan Chapman sent this question. Our institution corrects for HCT greater than 55% for routine and special coagulation assays. It has been our observation, however, that occasionally a patient sample will have a normal PT and PTT in spite of a high crit. We have had a policy that states if the PT and PTT […]

Screening Assays

FDA Registration

I’m posting this message at the request of a colleague. “George, I’m told by one of my suppliers that their products are US FDA registered. Does this mean the FDA endorses the company and its products?” Thank you for your question. FDA terminology may sometimes be complex and has perhaps confused your supplier’s representative. The […]

Instrumentation

More on PTT Mixing Studies

From colleague and friend Heather DeVries, IU Health. Our vote for defining a PTT mixing study correction was “Other.” Actually, we use more of a combination of whether the result is in the reference range AND the Rosner index. It is a case-by-case decision. If the clotting times prolong with incubation, we look at the […]

PT Affected by LMWH?

Sam Arcidiacono asks, One of our customers had a patient who stopped Coumadin for surgery and was given Lovenox (LMWH) I believe after the surgery. PT was 20 seconds on admission, day after surgery PT was 205 seconds then 275 that evening. I didn’t think it was due to the Lovenox. No Lovenox was given […]

Bleeding Disorders

ASCLS-Michigan Annual Meeting Handouts

The American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science-Michigan Branch holds its annual meeting at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth April 15–17, 2015. The program is rich with hemostasis presentations, as listed in the attached program. Also attached are 6-per-page PDF handouts for George Fritsma’s presentation, “Trauma-induced Coagulopathy and Massive Transfusion Protocol,” and Dave McGlasson’s […]

Bethesda Titer

Cassandra McGeachy, Louisiana Coagulation, asks, I am trying to evaluate a set of FVIII inhibitor results and I am not sure what to call it. My patient + normal pool on my Bethesda assay yields a 23% FVIII and the next 4 serial dilutions bounce around between 15 to 19% instead of giving a higher […]

Bleeding Disorders

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George Fritsma is a medical laboratory scientist, educator, and author. George is a member of the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis, the International Society for Laboratory Hematology, and the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science.

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