Coagulation Testing Volume

From Greg Fullerton at Affinity Biologicals, Inc.

Hi George,

I am new to the industry and enjoy reading your site.  It gives me a lot of insight into the world of hemostasis.  I have two coagulation market related questions for you and a top five list.  Hope you can help me out.
1) In your estimation, what would the volume of coagulation test be for the North American market in a year?
2) What percentage of people actually use frozen reagents compared to lyophilized?  I know the preference is frozen, but actual use is different I’m sure.
3) What would your top 5 “reads” be for a student new to the field of hemostasis?

Take care and keep up the good work.

Greg Fullerton
Manager, Sales & Marketing
Affinity Biologicals Inc.

Hi, Greg. Thanks for your compliment and your questions. I will punt on question 1, as I don’t have a feel for overall coagulation testing volume in NA. If anyone out there has some general figures, we are likely to have a response. Most medical center and reference labs prefer to treat their testing volume data as proprietary.

As for frozen V. lyophilized, I will place a Quick Question on the site in a few days. This will give us an unscientific but unbiased response.

I do have some recommendations for textbooks, some of which arise from blatant self-promotion. Marisa Marques MD and I wrote the second edition of “Quick Guide to Coagulation Testing,” published by AACC Press in 2009. I recommend it because it is only 106 pages and covers the whole subject in a telegraphic outline form. You can read it in one evening, and it is designed for practitioners to carry in their lab coat or jacket pocket. This is part of a series of Quick Guides that includes a new one that delivers in July, “Quick Guide to Venipuncture” by Alexis Wilsher Bennett and me.

Dr. Marques; Margaret Fritsma; MS, MT (ASCP) SBB; Larry Brace, PhD and I also contributed several chapters to Rodak BF, Fritsma GA, Doig K, Hematology Clinical Principles and Applications, Third Edition, Saunders, 2007. This book addresses all of Hematology, however it provides a lot of technical detail in coagulation testing. We are working feverishly on a new edition due January, 2011.

To be fair, we have a worthy competitor, McKenzie SB, Williams JL. Clinical Laboratory Hematology, 2nd Edition, Pearson, 2010. The coagulation chapters are written by Lynne Williams, PhD and Barbara O’Malley, MD, respected colleagues.

My favorite clinical reference is Kitchens CS, Alving BM, Kessler CM. Consultative Hemostasis and Thrombosis 2nd Edition, Saunders, 2007. This text is current, clinical, and easy to read.

Finally, the Bible of hemostasis, and a an authoritative shelf reference, is Colman RW, Marder VJ, Clowes AW, George JN, Goldhaber SZ. Hemostasis and Thrombosis Basic Principles and Clinical Practice, Lippincott, 2007.

There are several others, and Fritsma Factor participants may have some other favorites to add here.