A message from Patti Richardson and Dr. Manjula Balasubramanian, St Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA : Is it necessary to have a reference range for the international normalized ratio (INR)? It is a calculated value. If so, should these be derived from the normal prothrombin time (PT) ranges? The Heme CAP checklist does not address this question […]

I received this note from Stephen Duff, Co-CEO of Precision BioLogic about my recent “Top Ten” post: I noted with interest your Top Ten summary over the years and was puzzled to see “PTT Heparin Therapeutic Range” 2006 with a check mark beside it for “Resolved”. I think many labs still struggle with getting a sufficient number […]

From Shaun Seth: I was reading the commentary Dave McGlasson gave regarding the factor X assay and its role in antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. I was curious to know when or why a lab would use the factor II assay vs. the factor X assay. Hello Shaun and thank you for your question. The factor X chromogenic assay is […]

The Northwest Medical Laboratory Symposium is planned for October 12–15 in the Lynnwood Convention Center, Lynnwood Washington, just north of Seattle. On Friday, October 14, George will speak on “Hemophilia Therapy: From Rasputin to Recombinants,”8:30–10, and “The Top Ten Problems in the Coagulation Laboratory,” 2–3:30. The handouts for these presentations are available for registrants from the NWMLS web site, and are also […]

From Gretchen Schaef Johns, M.D., Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL: Is Ecarin available in the US and is the Ecarin clotting time (or the newer Stago Ecarin chromogenic test) research use only? Someone told me that you can’t get Ecarin in the US currently. Thanks. Thanks for your question, Dr. Johns. As you indicate, Diagnostica Stago has […]

I received a question through the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) Consumer Forum, from whence come many thorny hemostasis questions. This question was forwarded by Prof. Bernadette Rodak of Indiana University. I’ll quote (with edits for brevity), but have masked the consumer’s identity: “I had a cerebral thrombosis in March 2009 at the age of […]

From “Ipaz” at Iline Microsystems: For the plasma dilute thrombin time, why is the patient plasma diluted with normal pool plasma and not with saline solution? Thank you for your question. The dilute thrombin time is currently produced by Hyphen BioMed and marketed in North American by Aniara as their Direct Thrombin Inhibitors assay. The assay is designed to monitor the efficacy of dabigatran, […]