Posts

Shortened PFA Results

From Debbie Moffitt in Honolulu: Someone brought up a question regarding platelet testing with the PFA-100. As far as I know, we are concerned about prolonged results, but is a result less than the normal range normal or abnormal? Should we be concerned about a hypercoagulable state? What would be the appropriate action? Would we […]

D-dimer Vs. FSP

Can the HS (high sensitivity or quantitative) D-dimer test replace the fibrin split products (FSP) test? Why or why not? Also in pregnancy, since the D-dimer is always elevated, has any one tested and compared FSP levels in pregnancy as well? Thanks. Mohamed Emara, PhD, MT (ASCP) Hello, Dr. Emara, and thank you for your […]

Alabama Tornadoes: Support

Just a personal word to our participants about the devastating storms experienced last Wednesday, April 27, in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Thanks to all who have sent personal notes and expressions of concern, and a special word of thanks to the people of Precision BioLogic, Inc who have made a substantial contribution to the American Red […]

Prolonged PT, No Correction, Normal PTT

An intriguing case from “Annamaria09″ Hi, we have a very interesting case, a young man with an unexplained high prothrombin time (PT) that does not correct when mixed with pooled normal plasma, however his partial thromboplastin time (APTT) is normal. He also has an unexplained low hemoglobin and elevated platelet count. He is not on […]

AMR and CCR for Coagulation Tests

From Siddhartha Sharma: Can you please throw some light on the concept of AMR and CRR for coagulation testing instruments? Thanks. I went to Dr. Larry Brace, Edward Hospital in Naperville, IL for this question. He responds that a current CAP requirement is for each assay to have an established analytic measurable range (AMR) and a clinical reportable range (CRR). […]

Validating a New Aggregometer

From Michele Drejka, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Hi, George, I have a newly installed PAP-8E, and want to validate its performance. I am planning to run several comparisons with my old PAP-4, but I don’t know what is required or recommended in terms of number and types of comparisons or any other studies that will prove […]

PT/INR on an i-STAT

From Pearl Gabrielle: Hi, Our ED wants to add PT/INR to their i-STAT. I am not a fan of coagulation point of care (POC) testing and am looking for information or studies done comparing the i-STAT to coagulation analyzers, specifically Stago analyzers. Hello, Ms. Gabrielle, and thank you for your question. There is a large […]

Megaloblastic Anemia Audio Module

There is a 60-minute audio module entitled Megaloblastic Anemia posted below our 28 new hemostasis modules. The module has little to do with hemostasis, and is posted as a convenience to the graduate students in CLSC 5123E: ADVANCED HEMATOLOGY led by my friend and colleague, Elaine Keohane, PhD in the e-learning program at theUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Megaloblastic […]

Quick Question: Blood Collection

Here is a summary of our Feb-Apr, 2011 Quick Question: What is your most frequent specimen collection error? a. Short draw: 82 (49%) b. Patient misidentified: 5 (3%) c. Wrong test orders: 10 (6%) d. Specimen clotted: 17 (10%) e. Specimen hemolyzed: 54 (32%) These results are self-explanatory except perhaps “patient misidentified,” which was reported […]

The results are in…

and it is time to say thank you. National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is April 24–30. To celebrate, George has updated all 23 audio learning modules and added five new modules: Prothrombin Time, Partial Thromboplastin Time, PTT Mixing Studies, Thrombin Time (including the Clauss Fibrinogen assay and Reptilase Time), and Factor Assays. The modules are all available at no […]

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George Fritsma is a medical laboratory scientist, educator, and author. George holds faculty appointments with Rutgers University and Michigan State University, and is a member of the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis, American Association of Clinical Chemists, and American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science.

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