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Assays for Direct Oral Anticoagulants

From Lisa Bakken: I am a part of a stroke committee at my hospital that needs/wants to implement anti-factor Xa and anti-factor IIa testing for the new oral anticoagulants (NOACs). In addition to this, our laboratory is looking into new coag instrumentation. We are struggling to determine what is the best for our patient population. Our […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

ISTH SSC; Milwaukee, June 23–26

The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis Scientific and Standardization Subcommittee meets June 23–26 at the Wisconsin Center,Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Please stop by to meet George and our folks at the Precision BioLogic booth, #308. See you in Milwaukee!

Calendar and Fellow Hemostasis Site Update

We’ve just updated our 2014–2015 conference calendar. Also updated is our list offellow organizations with links to their sites. If your conference or organization does not appear, please provide a response below and it will be posted.

DRVVT Reagent Stability

From Dave McGlasson, George, Has anyone got information on storing DRVV screen and confirm reagent aliquots? Can you freeze/thaw them without any loss in activity? That question has come up to me recently.

Lupus Anticoagulant

Blood Specimen Transfer

George is working with Dr. Jeanine Walenga, coagulation editor, on the “Methods” chapter for the fifth edition of Hematology, Clinical Principles and Applications. (The Rodak Hematology textbook published by Elsevier). While most hemostasis specimens are collected in evacuated tube systems, we use syringes for difficult draws or special applications. When transferring syringe blood to an evacuated tube, […]

Specimen Management

US FDA: Pradaxa Profile

Thanks to Elaine Benoit at Precision BioLogic for this heads-up on the results of a new study describing dabigatran (Pradaxa) efficacy and safety outcomes in an older population, including a description of the risks of GI bleeding.

Anticoagulant Therapy

More on Heparin Monitoring

From Vanessa Chan at Sick Kids in Toronto: Hi George and the coag world, what assay is everyone using to monitor unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH)? What are everyone’s thoughts on the use of antithrombin and/or dextran sulfate in these reagents? In your external quality assessments (EQAs), do you experience any biased results with your […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

Anti-Xa; Do You Still Offer PTT?

From Kim Kinney, Indiana University, Hi George, one question leads to another. We have a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, May 6) with our anticoagulation committee and one question that I think will come up will be, if we do convert to the chromogenic anti-Xa method for monitoring heparin, will we still maintain the therapeutic partial thromboplastin time […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

Validate Anti-Xa for Heparin Therapeutic Range?

If I wanted to perform an anti-Xa assay to determine my therapeutic range for my new lot of partial thromboplastin time (PTT) reagent, does the Xa need to be a validated test on my analyzer? Hello, and yes, the reference method must be validated to insure the PTT therapeutic range is valid. If you aren’t […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

Does Transient PS Deficiency Cause Thrombosis?

George participates in CLSC5124E-Sp14; Advanced Hemostasis, a graduate course offered by Drs. Nadine Fydryszewski and Elaine Keohane of Rutgers University School of Biomedical and Health Sciences. The faculty also include Dr. Larry Smith and Prof.Donna Castellone. This course attracts experienced medical laboratory scientists from around the world who raise interesting questions, including this one about transient gestations protein S deficiency: A surfeit of studies […]

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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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