Posts

Type 2 Antithrombin Deficiency: Dr. Stephan Moll, UNC

George, I noted your new website-blog. Interesting activity. I will challenge you with a question: 33 year old woman with type 2 antithrombin deficiency (AT activity – chromogenic Xa inactivation assay in the presence of heparin – HemosIL Liquid Antithrombin) is 58 % (normal 88 and above) twice, from from 2 separate blood draws. AT […]

The Butterfly

I sent out some announcements for our blog last week and received some nice responses from colleagues and former students. I heard from Francy Van Dyke who graduated from one of my earliest classes in Peoria, back when the Earth was forming (sorry, Francy). One of the facilities she works with prohibits… …home health care […]

Genomic Screening for Warfarin Therapy

Last Tuesday I attended a School of Public Health doctoral dissertation defense at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on the subject of testing CYP2C9 and VKORC1 polymorphisms… …prior to warfarin therapy. There is a discussion of this by Sconce, Khan, Wynne et al, Blood 2005; 106:2329-33. The UAB dissertation was a prospective study comparing […]

Should We Add AT To The Mix?

From Bob Gosselin at UC Davis: What is truth? Do we supplement with antithrombin (AT)… …or not in measuring UFH by anti-Xa activity. As you know, there are significant differences in anti-Xa levels when one supplements with AT. This would obviously impact the heparin therapeutic range for aPTTs. Toss in the Dade method which supplements […]

Is There Another Factor XIII Assay? (Pam Owens)

A note from Pam Owens at TriCore Reference Laboratories: We have seen a reference to a Factor 13 assay using thrombin and acetic acid as opposed to 5M urea. Does anyone have experience with this method? Where can we get a copy of the protocol?

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 […]

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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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