Bleeding Disorders

Extended Life Cryoprecipitate Fibrinogen

As reported by Amy Carpenter quoting Jay Hudgins, DO, MS, director of hemostasis and thrombosis, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA in the August 2024 edition of CAP Today, extended-life cryoprecipitate has several applications. INTERCEPT®, is the Cerus, Inc. trademark for their materials that crosslink and inactivate bacterial and […]

Bleeding Disorders

Measuring Current Hemophilia A and B Therapy

Click here for a comprehensive open-access review of the means for measuring current hemophilia A and B therapy: Bowyer AE, Gosselin RC. Factor VIII and factor IX activity measurements for hemophilia diagnosis and related treatments. Semin Thromb Hemost. 2023;49:609–20. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-1758870. PMID: 36473488; PMCID: PMC10421651.

Bleeding Disorders

August 2024 Quick Question: Hemophilia Treatment

Several hemophilia A or B treatments are in development or have been approved since 2021. Among these are the “rebalancing” preparations that suppress control proteins such as tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), antithrombin (AT), or activated protein C (APC). Rebalancing preparations are designed to compensate for the bleeding tendencies in FVIII or FIX deficiency without […]

Bleeding Disorders

Low Titer Group O Whole Blood in Trauma

Click here for a July 2024 CAP Today article describing the growing use of low titer group O whole blood in trauma and emergencies and its effect on trauma-induced coagulopathy.

Bleeding Disorders

Bioengineered FVIII: efanestocog alfa

Here is a richly illustrated open-access editorial of the development and physiologic function of efanesoctocog alfa (Altuviiio®, Sanofi), which features a half-life 4X that of current concentrates: Chowdary P. Bioengineered factor VIII–more innovation for Hemophilia A. N Engl J Med. 2024;391:277–82. doi: 10.1056/NEJMe2313795. PMID: 39018538.

Bleeding Disorders

Concizumab, A “Rebalancing Agent”

Below is the abstract of a 2019 presentation by Amy Shapiro MD, CEO and co-medical director of the Indiana Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, describing the rebalancing agent concizumab, approved as Alhemo® by Health Canada in March 2023 but rejected by the US FDA on May 5, 2023, with a request for […]

Bleeding Disorders

Fitusiran: A “Rebalancing Agent”

Fitusiran is an inhibitory double-stranded RNA (RNAi, also called small interfering RNA, siRNA). Fitusiran, termed a “rebalancing agent,” suppresses the nuclear production of antithrombin (AT) messenger RNA (mRNA). AT is a major coagulation control protein that binds and disables thrombin and FXa (also FIXa and FXIa to a lesser extent). By suppressing AT production, fitusiran […]

Bleeding Disorders

June 2024 QQ Poll Summary: OSA and Chromogenics

Our June 2024 Quick Question attracted 18 responses. This month’s Question was a poll that asked, “How do you assay factor concentrates?” Here are our answers: Clot-based assay: 11 [61%] Chromogenic substrate assay: 4 [22%] Other: 3 [17%] Factor assays are most often requested to monitor hemophilia factor concentrate activity for patient-specific efficacy and the […]

VWD in Nigeria: Request for Proposal

Hello George. I am reaching out from my research institute as we are planning to apply for a grant from the Wellcome Trust. Our project title is “Comprehensive Characterization Of von Willebrand’s Disease in Nigeria; Closing the Gap in Global Bleeding Disorders.” As a collaborator, you will be asked to support the delivery of the […]

Bleeding Disorders

June 2024 QQ: Factor Assays

Our June 2025 Quick Question is a poll that asks, “How do you assay factor concentrates?” The question reflects the current hemostasis laboratory efforts to quantify therapeutic FVIII or FIX concentrate activity given the variety of plasma-based, recombinant, B-domain-deleted, and extended half-life therapeutics. We also manage factor concentrates that are employed to control breakthrough bleeds […]

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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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