Benefits include shorter time between gathering specimens and receiving results, use of specimens with less volume, and a reduction in mishandling and mislabeling of specimens. Point-of-care activated clotting time measurements also provide advantages over laboratory-based tests for these applications, Singh said. An anti-Xa assay directly measures heparin level by detecting a color change using a chromogenic substrate that binds to free heparin.Īctivated clotting time, which can be measured by a variety of point-of-care platforms, has an advantage over the other two methods in that it enables use of whole blood without requiring that citrated plasma be drawn off after centrifugation, the investigators said. As fibrin strands form, the absorbance increases, and less light is perceived by the detector. Among them, the three most commonly used are assays for activated partial thomboplastin (aPTT) time, anti-Xa, and activated clotting time (ACT).Īn aPTT assay monitors clot formation by measuring the absorbance of light passed through a specimen. In all, the investigators analyzed the performance and cost of five tests available for the monitoring of heparin-induced anticoagulation. "Our investigation was triggered by external proficiency testing done by the College of American Pathologists, which revealed that results from the Hemochron instrument could be unreliable." "A number of instruments are available that you can use at the patient's bedside to monitor heparin treatment," Singh said. None of the instrument manufacturers responded to requests for comment on the study results. In parallel testing of instruments at Medical College of Georgia, the investigators compared the iStat with other instruments, including the Accriva Hemochron Signature Elite ACT+ and Hemochron Response analyzer produced by Instrumentation Laboratory, a Werfen company, and the Medtronic Hepcon Hemostasis Management System. Overall, the assessment was part of a quality management program in which the investigators evaluate analyzers on an ongoing basis to ascertain whether they meet patients’ needs, he said.ĭuring procedures such as open-heart surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, or inserting stents to improve blood flow in the heart, patients are given anticoagulants to prevent blood clots from forming, and the patients require bedside monitoring to make sure the drugs aren't causing problems such as excessive bleeding.įast-acting heparin is frequently administered as an anticoagulant, and clinicians usually use a measurement of activated clotting time to monitor the effectiveness of their treatments. "This was a comparison of the different instruments available, and we're indicating that one instrument is better than the others without having a vested interest in any of them," Gurmukh Singh, chief of clinical pathology at the Medical College of Georgia and the study's senior author, said in an interview. ![]() The investigators published the results of their study recently in the journal Lab Medicine. ![]() NEW YORK (360Dx) – Clinicians at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta have conducted a head-to-head comparison of instruments and tests used to monitor blood clotting during medical and surgical procedures, concluding that the Abbott iStat point-of-care analyzer performed the best.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |