Posted: February 16, 2021
-Contributed by Abi Kasberg, PhD One of the many complicated outcomes associated with severe cases of COVID-19 is the high occurrence of thrombotic and microthrombotic events. SARS-CoV-2-induced endothelial injury drives elevated inflammatory responses that promote dysregulated coagulation systems, in a condition named COVID-19-associated coagulopathy (CAC). The severity of CAC is associated with the onset of…
Posted: December 8, 2020
David L. McGlasson, MS, MLS(ASCP) The recent THSNA meeting that was supposed to held in Chicago, IL from October 27-30, 2020 was held in a virtual meeting setting. This seems to be the theme this year for all of the professional events that have been affected by the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic. The one thing I…
Posted: October 2, 2020
– Contributed by Abi Kasberg, PhD The novel coronavirus worldwide pandemic of 2020 is infecting and claiming lives at a rapid rate. Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can lead to severe acute respiratory distress and multiple system organ failure in a disease called COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 enters cells by endocytosis through binding…
Posted: September 25, 2020
Activated Protein C Resistance (APCR), Factor V Leiden (FVL), and a Case Report of a Family with the presence of FVL over 5 generations. Prior to 1992 the special coagulation laboratory performed testing on three inherited thrombotic risk factors. Antithrombin (formerly known as ATIII), Protein C, and Protein S deficiencies were implicated in venous thromboembolism…
Posted: September 3, 2020
– Contributed by Abi Kasberg, PhD The global pandemic caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has captured the attention of researchers, medical professionals, governments, and nearly everyone worldwide. The scientific and medical communities are forming collaborations, gathering data, developing therapeutics, and communicating findings at a swift speed. Indeed, it can be a challenge to stay informed…
Posted: August 18, 2020
The recent ISTH 2020 meeting that was supposed to be held in Milan, Italy was still a success even in a virtual setting. As always, the topics were extremely informative. The addition of ISTH TV was an innovative way of presenting new information in a roundtable format with top members of the coagulation community. The…
Posted: August 3, 2020
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE ISSUE(S) OF ANTICOAGULATION-Part II Since writing Part I of COVID-19 and Clotting Clot Club, we in the United States have seen the numbers of confirmed cases of the virus jump from approximately 300,000 to over 3,000,000 infected in the last two months. With that massive increase, we have had to…
Posted: May 26, 2020
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE ISSUE(S) OF ANTICOAGULATION-Part I We are now experiencing a once in a lifetime health issue that has not been seen since the Spanish Flu of the early 20th century. A pandemic of epic proportions has infected millions of people worldwide and taken over 300,000 lives, with the largest number of…
Posted: April 2, 2020
David L. McGlasson, MS MLS(ASCP) Posted: January 28, 2020 Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT) – A sensible laboratory approach (hopefully) What’s a HIT? Back in 1980, I was exposed to my first request for a work-up on a disorder I had never experienced. A hematologist at our institution came in with a request to see if a patient…
Posted: January 28, 2020
David L. McGlasson, MS MLS(ASCP) Posted: January 28, 2020 The Latest Research on Direct Oral Anticoagulant (DOAC) Interferences in Testing Can DOACs be removed from plasma samples to prevent interference with plasma coagulation and chromogenic testing? DOACs may affect almost all of the clotting coagulation methods results and some chromogenic assays. In the last few years,…
Posted: December 10, 2019
David L. McGlasson, MS, MLS(ASCP) Posted: December 10, 2019 This month’s Clot Club entry discusses the chromogenic Factor X assay. What is it? And how is it different from the anti-FXa assay? MONITORING WARFARIN THERAPY, DIRECT THROMBIN INHIBITORS (DTI), AND SUBJECTS ON ORAL ANTICOAGULANT THERAPY (OAT) WITH INTERFERING SUBSTANCES SUCH AS MEDICATIONS AND NON-SPECIFIC INHIBITORS…
Posted: September 26, 2019
David L. McGlasson, MS, MLS(ASCP) Posted: September 26, 2019 Ok I admit it I am a child of the 1960’s. However, I spent the last three years in the Army 1966-1969 during the Vietnam War. After I got out of the military I spent a year doing veterinary pharmacology research and then headed back to…
Posted: August 20, 2019
David L. McGlasson, MS, MLS(ASCP) Posted: August 20, 2019 The laboratory work up of von Willebrand Disease (vWD) involves determining the level of VWF by both functional and antigenic methods. Per recommendations from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) that were developed by a working group in 2008, initial testing for VWD should…
Posted: June 25, 2019
David L. McGlasson, MS, MLS(ASCP) Posted: June 25, 2019 On May 9-11, 2019 the Hemostasis Thrombosis Research Society (HTRS) and North American Foundation of Thrombosis and Hemostasis (NAFTH) met in New Orleans, LA for a large Clotting and Bleeding Clam Bake of clinical and research information sharing. The first large exchange of information was that…
Posted: April 30, 2019
Factor XIII Quick Facts Molecular mass: 320 000 D Synthesis: Liver, Megakaryocytes Plasma concentration: 2mg/l Half-life: 8 days Normal range: 50 – 150% or 0.5 – 1.5U/ml Factor XIII, also known as fibrin stabilizing factor, is a heterodimer (FXIII-A2B2) composed of two catalytic A-subunits and two carrier B-subunits. With thrombin cleavage of the A-subunit followed by dissociation of the…
Posted: April 30, 2019
David L. McGlasson, MS, MLS(ASCP) Posted: April 30, 2019 As a follow-up to our Heparin issue, we bring you some stories of heparin in the news. “In the early 1980’s I was working at the University of Texas Health Science Center and University Hospital in San Antonio, TX. I was working in the Hemostasis Lab at…