Hi George,
I have visited your site a few times in the past and I own your pocket guide book, so I thought of you when I came up with this question. I read in ASCLS Today an article about monitoring heparin therapy using the chromogenic anti Xa assay instead of APTT. Is that standard practice in labs now? or just beginning to catch on? If you could answer that, I’d appreciate it – or direct me to a link where I could find that answer.
Thanks much, Sue Bergs MT (ASCP)
Instructor – Medical Laboratory Technician program
Madison Area Technical College – Truax Campus
Madison, WI
Hi, Sue. In 2009 we ran a “Quick Question to learn how many laboratory directors have switched to the chromogenic anti-Xa heparin assay, Here are the results, at that time, it was 16% (unscientific). Perhaps more have changed since; I hope this is catching on. The anti-Xa is accurate, precise, and not prone to error related to high fibrinogen, high factor VIII, or the presence of plasma-based inhibitors. Thanks for your question, and I hope this helps.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to gather data fo
Can anyone point me in the right direction to gather data for our pharmacy? They would like to get onboard with the lab to switch to anti-Xa, but need data to convince physicians. Thanks.
Added by George: the quickest, easiest way to do this is to contact one of the anti-Xa kit manufacturers. I’m personally acquainted with Dan Kaczor at Diagnostica Stago-US, who does a full presentation on the topic, including cost effectiveness and adverse event data. Not to show bias, I am sure Beckman-Coulter, Aniara, and their competitors provide the same support.