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Discard Tubes and Butterfly Sets

I’ve been seeing several posts in Medlab-L about the need for a discard tube when collecting hemostasis specimens using butterfy needle sets. The air within butterfly set tubing occupies approximately 0.5 mL and reduces first tube collection by that volume. For a 3.0 mL total collection tube, this is a 16% reduction in total final […]

Paraoxonase (PON1)

Here is an interesting message about paraoxonase from colleague Dan Southern. “Have you ever heard of paraoxonase? The article below, out of Cleveland Clinic, makes me want to be tested yesterday.” “Cleveland Clinic Researchers Show Strong Relationship Between HDL-Associated Protein And Protection From Heart Disease Risk” Findings Appear in Special Genetics in Medicine Issue Published […]

American College of Cardiology

I’m attending the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Chicago today and tomorrow. There is a lot of attention being paid to new antithrombotics beyond rivaroxiban and dabigatran. There are at least 10 new anti-Xa and 5 new direct thrombin inhibitor antithrombotics in clinical trials. I’ll provide new information on this subject when I […]

Early Reaction or No Coagulation Message on CA 1500

Wednesday, March 19, 2008, message from Karen Easter: We have recently had several patients where we haven’t been able to get an acceptable result for PTT or PT. We use the Sysmex CA 1500. We get an early reaction error or no coagulation. When we talk with the nurse or doctor, they say the patient […]

Thrombin Time for Heparin

Hi George: I am lead heme tech at a medium sized hospital. My boss asked me why we sent out a thrombin time on a patient on heparin. There’s all sorts of ways to answer it. I wonder what you suggest. Do I call the ordering physician and ask him why he’d want to run […]

Heparin Contaminant Identified

A report appeared on HeartWire yesterday identifying the cause for the recent series of reactions to heparin contamination as oversulfated chondrotin sulfate. Follow this linkto the story.

Von Willebrand Disease

The next modules I’ll be posting will be on von Willebrand disease, the single most common inherited bleeding disorder. I’ll be a couple of weeks developing these, as the laboratory test profile is complex, however if you can’t wait, there is a current review on the web site of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood […]

New Modules

We’ve just posted three modules on thrombophilia and one on hemostasis blood specimen collection. Be sure to visit these and take advantage of the opportunity for continuing education credit through CACMLE. Geo.

What is thromboplastin?

Dear George, This is back to basics but, believe it or not, some of us are coming up with different ideas of what exactly “thromboplastin” is and exactly which cells it is normally a part of. Could you please define it for us and clear up the confusion? Thank You, Anne Dagostino Hello, Anne. Thanks […]

Introducing Guest Blogs: experts share their recent work

We’re proud to introduce our new Fritsma Factor feature, guest blogs. We’ve invited various international experts to provide blog posts summarizing some of their recent work. Our first posting comes from Dave McGlasson, coagulation researcher in San Antonio. Within a day or so, you’ll see a new menu section on the right for navigating to […]

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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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