During the process of normal blood coagulation prothrombin is converted into thrombin. As a result serum contains considerably less prothrombin than the plasma from which it is derived, the prothrombin having been consumed during the coagulation of the blood. In certain conditions this conversion is incomplete and much prothrombin remains in the serum. Often this is not obvious from the usual t...

Between January and October 2014, Great Ormond Street Hospital Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) was spending an average £23,392 on blood tests per month. Blood tests should be requested based on previous results and the patient's clinical condition, medication and nutritional status. However, more blood tests were being ordered than clinically indicated: an audit in October 2014 showed liv...

This case series presents three patients with sepsis/septic shock in whom standard coagulation tests (international normalized ratio, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, antithrombin, thrombocytes) and ROTEM ® thromboelastometry (InTEM, ExTEM, FibTEM) were simultaneously performed. Although all patients showed significantly prolonged plasmatic coagulation times with a putatively ...

Coagulation tests range from global or overall tests to assays specific to individual clotting factors and their inhibitors. Whether a particular test is influenced by an oral anticoagulant depends on the principle of the test and the type of oral anticoagulant. Knowledge on coagulation tests applicable in monitoring status and reversal of oral anticoagulation is a prerequisite when studying po...

A major variable in blood coagulation tests is the nature and the amount of surface with which the blood comes in contact. When tests on recalcified plasma are used the methods of preparation and storage of the plasma have also to be considered. The prolonged contact of plasma with a large surface, e.g., with glass powder or asbestos, is accompanied by the loss of many coagulation factors, incl...

Background Regular exercises decrease the risk of various diseases. This is a reason to recommend exercises for health promotion. Thus American Heart Association (AHA) and American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM) have issued guidelines for young people resistance exercises. Aim: To investigate the effect of resistance training exercise on hematological, immunological and coagulation parameters...

Factor XIII or "fibrin-stabilizing factor," is a transglutaminase circulates in the blood circulation as a hetero tetramer with two catalytic A subunits and two carrier B subunits. This important coagulation factor has a crucial role in clotting cascade and produces strong covalent bonds between soluble formed fibrin monomers during coagulation. This stable cross linked fibrin strands are resis...

OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESIS To reconcile conflicting reports and opinions of the value of preoperative coagulation studies for patients undergoing tonsillectomy. STUDY DESIGN Meta-analysis: Articles were identified by MEDLINE search, references from review articles, textbook chapter, and retrieved reports. Independent observers selected prospective trials of patients undergoing tonsillectomy or aden...

We present a case of an 18-year-old British soldier who was bitten by an unidentified snake whilst stationed on the Iran/Iraq border. He was evacuated to the closest Role 2+ medical facility. Within 2 days he had developed bruising and a haematoma at the bite site. An improvised measure of clotting status, the bleeding time, was employed, showing that his blood was severely anticoagulated. He w...