Anticoagulant Therapy

Heparin Brill-Edwards Curve Calibrators?

Steve Duff, co-CEO of Precision BioLogic received this question from a subscriber: Has Precision ever considered producing a set of 30 plasmas containing varying levels of unfractionated heparin? I think there is a strong need for a commercial product that can be used to fulfill the CAP requirement for heparin therapeutic range development. It is […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

More on Oral Anticoagulants: Rivaroxaban

Here is a December 19 “FirstWord” post announcing EU clearance of rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Bayer) for stroke prevention and treatment of deep venous thrombosis. Thanks to Steve Duff, Precision BioLogic co-CEO for alerting me to this evidence of the 2011 march to the adoption of new oral anticoagulants.

Anticoagulant Therapy

New Oral Anticoagulants and HIT

An article posted December 15 on TheHeart.org quotes Dr. Jawed Fareed, Loyola University, Chicago, who demonstrated using an in vitro experiment that rivaroxaban, apixaban, and dabigatran do not interact with the anti-platelet factor 4 antibodies responsible for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia with thrombosis, a severe side effect of unfractionated heparin therapy. The findings were reported at this year’s American Society […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

Bad News About Dabigatran

Larry Brace, PhD, Edward Hospital in Naperville, IL, alerted me by telephone yesterday about the RE-LY study’s reported bleeding rate for the new oral anticoagulant, dabigatran (Pradaxa), which may be linked to using the 150 mg/day dosage. I’ve linked the story as it appears in TheHeart.org. Dr. Brace suggests on the basis of physiology that the anti-Xa anticoagulants […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

Dabigatran in the ER

Dave McGlasson sent me this HeartWire link describing the problems of Dabigatran in trauma situations. This looks like a new risk associated with the oral anticoagulant.

Anticoagulant Therapy

New Phase 3 Data on Apixaban

Stephen Duff, Co-CEO of Precision BioLogic Inc passed along this announcement. At the American Heart Association meeting, the results of a phase 3 trial indicated that apixaban did not meet the primary efficacy outcome of superiority to enoxaparin (Lovenox) for the endpoint of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and VTE-related death at day 30 in people with acute medical illness. The […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

Bridging Anticoagulation

We are getting a lot of fresh anticoagulation and thrombosis information from the ongoing American Heart Association meeting. Dr Samuel Z Goldhaber (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA) indicates there is a lack of evidence for “bridging” anticoagulation. He conclludes, “there are no randomized clinical trials to say that bridging is the way to go.”

Anticoagulant Therapy

New Results on Rivaroxaban

Research data presented Sunday, November 13, 2011 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions indicated that adding low doses of Johnson & Johnson and Bayer’s Xarelto (rivaroxaban) to standard antiplatelet therapy significantly prevented the occurrence of secondary cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), compared with standard therapy alone. The companies plan to seek US […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

INR Reference Range?

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 […]

Anticoagulant Therapy

Is PTT Monitoring of UFH a Thing of the Past?

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 […]

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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