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Quick Question Feb 2021: Easy Bruising Case

Our February, 2021 Quick Question was a case study that drew 60 responses. A 25-YO woman who is 1 month post-partum experiences bruising and menorrhagia. She reports that her mother and brother both experience easy bruising and that her own bruising disappeared during her pregnancy. What condition could cause these symptoms? Acquired hemophilia: 12% [7] […]

Bleeding Disorders

Factor VII Inhibitor Assay

From Cemalettin Ulusoy, MD, Clinical Laboratory Specialist: I am setting up a hemostasis unit in the central laboratory of public hospitals in Istanbul, Turkey. As it is a rare disorder, I have not been able to get satisfying information on factor VII inhibitor screening [Bethesda-based method]. I would like to ask whether I am able […]

Bleeding Disorders

Audio PowerPoint Modules

George received this question from MariaElena Franco: Hello, George, I am unable to watch the educational modules. My IT department says it’s because Adobe Flash is no longer supported. Are you hearing this from other users? Response: Hello, MariaElena, and thank you for your email. Your IT group is correct, Adobe has dropped Flash. I’m […]

Cord Blood PTT Comment

We’ve received a new comment on our January 11 cord blood entry. If you have experience with performing factor assays on cord blood, please comment on the January 11 post or this one. Alternatively, email your comment to [email protected].

Bleeding Disorders

LA Interferences

Here is a 2019 poster describing interferences that affect the PTT-based lupus anticoagulant test profile: Effects of Common Interferents in Hexagonal Phase Phospholipid Neutralization Testing by Douglas C, Wood A, Sadeghi-Khomami A, and Black K. The poster features Precision BioLogic’s newly approved CRYOcheck™ Hex LA product.

Chromogenic Factor VIII

B-domain deleted extended half-life factor VIII concentrates have come to be the chosen hemophilia A therapies, along with emicizumab [HemLibra®], approved in 2017. Coagulation laboratories can no longer rely upon the time-honored one-stage clot-based factor assay to accurately report BDD EHL therapeutic factor VIII activity, nor can these tests be used to monitor patient factor […]

Bleeding Disorders

Webinar Recording: VWF: Friend or Foe

A recording of our January 26, 2021 webinar, von Willebrand Factor, Friend or Foe [click] is now available on the BioMedica Diagnotics, Inc. home page. Here is a summary from our January announcements: Von Willebrand factor [VWF] is crucial to platelet adhesion and proper effective coagulation. In addition, VWF appears to be associated with inflammation […]

Hemophilia A Management

Here is a link to New Frontiers in Hemophilia A Management [click], which appears in the December 2020 Clinical Laboratory News, an AACC Publication. The article features the rapid increase of emicizumab [HemLibra®] therapy and the need for bovine substrate chromogenic factor VIII assays to replace the unreliable clot-based assays. The article is a good […]

Bleeding Disorders

Reducing Hemolysis Rate

Thanks to friend and colleague Dennis Ernst, Center for Phlebotomy Education, for illustrating a new technology, PIVO® from Velano Vascular, San Francisco, California, which enables blood collectors to obtain specimens from peripheral intravenous [PIV] devices saafely while reducing the incidence of hemolysis. Click here for an article describing the device on Dennis’s site.

Specimen Management

Jan, 2021 QQ: CFX Answers

Our January, 2021 Quick Question asked, “How does your facility monitor warfarin in an atrial fibrillation [AFIB] patient with lupus anticoagulant [LAC]? The answers were… PT–INR; it is valid in LAC [33%] Chromogenic factor X [10, CFX] [33%] Chromogenic anti-factor Xa [23%] None: we switch to a DOAC [11%] Our question attracted too small a […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

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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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