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Should we Discard Discard Tubes?

Please review our previous thread on specimen collection and the comment on discard tubes. Except for “butterfly” infusion sets, when we use a discard tube to compensate for air in the tubing, discard tubes are contraindicate. See McGlasson DL, More L, Best HA, et al. Drawing specimens for coagulation testing: is a second tube necessary? […]

Back From Jackson, WY

Good Morning. Judging by attendance and spirit, the Intermountain States Seminar in Jackson, Wyoming, September 19-22, was a big success. The IMSS is an institution that attracts CLS leaders from all around the Northwest. Each year I shamelessly beg the organizers… …to invite me, because Jackson is so beautiful. Good old United Airlines would not […]

Launching Fritsma Factor

Today, Tuesday, September 18, is our launch day (and my stepmother Katherine’s birthday). We’re sending an announcement to a small group of participants. This is a “soft launch” that gives us a chance to iron out the wrinkles. We’ve been working hard over the last few days to develop… …a format, check functionality and begin […]

Seminars in Wyoming and Maine

What do you think about the new cell-based coagulation… …pathway information described by Dr. Maureen Hoffman and others in a number of current publications? I did a presentation on this in San Diego at the ASCLS/AACC annual meeting and am giving a similar talk at the Intermountain States Seminar in Jackson, Wyoming on Thursday at […]

The INR, Again

Is the INR reliable? With the assistance of Bernadette F. (Bunny) Rodak, I monitor the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (www.ascls.org) Consumer Information Forum for coag questions. The Forum is a place where the lay public ask questions about laboratory test results. Most of the questions that come up have to do with warfarin […]

Specimen Collection

Do we really follow specimen collection guidelines? The CLSI… (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute) provides careful guidelines for coagulation test specimens in H21-A4, “Collection, transport, and processing blood specimens for testing plasma-based coagulation assays and molecular hemostasis assays”, approved guideline–fifth edition. I’m curious how well we follow our guidelines. For instance, do we really separate […]

Platelets and Atherosclerosis

Are platelets the primary culprits in acute coronary syndrome? Some recent studies imply… …that platelets are involved in both plaque formation and plaque rupture. I leave today, July 16, 2007, for the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (www.ascls.org) and American Society for Clinical Chemistry (www.aacc.org) annual meeting in San Diego. Friday, I’m giving a […]

Aspirin Response: Aggregometry and the UDHT Assay

Evidence is growing that we can use whole blood and plasma/urine markers… …to indicate aspirin response. In my July 16, 2007 post I mentioned a presentation I’ll be giving on Friday at the ASCLS/AACC annual meeting in San Diego. I’ll be describing platelet adhesion molecules and their relationship to cardiovascular disease. That is not the […]

How Do You Monitor Arixtra?

We’ve grown accustomed to using the chromogenic anti-Xa heparin assay to monitor unfractionated (standard) heparin… … and low molecular weight heparin (Enoxaparin, Tinzaparin, or Dalteparin). And most of us have gone to the hybrid standard curve so we no longer need two curves, one for unfractionated and another for low molecular weight heparin. However, many […]

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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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