OBJECTIVES To reassess the need for routine coagulation profile testing in patients undergoing image-guided breast biopsies.  METHODS This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. Data was collected from the logbook of patients that underwent image-guided biopsies in the breast unit at the Department of Radiology, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Patients' electronic...

MASSIVE hemorrhage originates from severe injury of blood vessels caused by major trauma, surgery, underlying medical conditions, or any combination thereof. If not diagnosed and treated readily, patients exsanguinate and die from hypovolemic shock. In this issue of ANESTHESIOLOGY, Bolliger et al. review the mechanisms of coagulopathy in massive hemorrhage with a special emphasis on the hemodil...

Five serological tests for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) were compared: a direct agglutination test (DAT) based on freeze-dried antigen (DAT-fd); a locally produced DAT (DAT-LPC); an IgG ELISA against rK39 (ELISA-rK39); an IgG ELISA for Leishmania chagasi (ELISA-L. chagasi); and an IgG IFAT against L. chagasi. Serum samples from 88 patients with VL, 20 non-infected individuals an...

Severe trauma-related bleeding is associated with high mortality. Standard coagulation tests provide limited information on the underlying coagulation disorder. Whole-blood viscoelastic tests such as rotational thromboelastometry or thrombelastography offer a more comprehensive insight into the coagulation process in trauma. The results are available within minutes and they provide information ...

Pregnancy is a unique situation where significant physiological changes in all maternal organ systems take place. Most of these changes return to normal after delivery. During normal pregnancy the hemostatic balance changes in the direction of hypercoagulability, thus decreasing bleeding complications at time of delivery. The pregnancy-associated hypercoagulability sets a foundation for hemosta...

Clinicopathologic changes in the course of liver diseases are as variable and non­specific as the physical findings, nevertheless liver disease is often first diagnosed during routine blood tests. It is particularly important to distinguish between enzyme diagnostics and liver function tests. Increased activities of „liver enzymes“ are either due to liver cell damage (ALT, AST, GLDH) or enzyme ...