Discrepancy in factor VIII 1-stage/2-stage activity in a child with Arg(531)--> His mutation.

Routine screening of infants born to known hemophilia carriers includes a factor VIII (FVIII) level. In routine practice, mild FVIII deficiency variants may be missed by laboratories that exclusively use a one-stage activated partial thromboplastin time-based activity assay. This case illustrates such a possibility with a discrepancy between the one-stage and two-stage assays performed on a child who carries the Arg(531) --> His mutation.

Increased thrombophilic tendency in pediatric cystic fibrosis patients.

Thrombophilia has recently been reported to be increased in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). We wanted to determine whether this was applicable to our population with CF and how our patients compared to the previously reported groups. Seventy one pediatric CF patients were assessed for a thrombophilic tendency, using a lupus anticoagulant screen, protein C, protein S, antithrombin assay, and activated protein C resistance (APCR) screen.

Fibrinogen concentration and factor VIII activity in women with preeclampsia.

Objective: To compare fibrinogen concentration and factor VIII activity obtained from pregnant women with preeclampsia with those obtained from women with either normal pregnancies or with complications unrelated to preeclampsia.

Materials And Methods: Fibrinogen concentration and factor VIII activity were measured in the following groups: normal pregnancy, consisting of women at routine 16- to 28-week antenatal visits or after admission at term for elective cesarean section; women with non-preeclampsia (non-PE) related conditions, including women with threatened abortion, cholestasis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and previous deep venous thrombosis (DVT); and women with preeclampsia as defined by the Australasion Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy (ASSHP) criteria. Blood was collected from 44 women in each group.

Acceptability of CoaguChek S and CoaguChek XS generated international normalised ratios against a laboratory standard in a paediatric setting.

Aims: Point of care (POC) testing is convenient for both patients and physicians but the accuracy of the results must be guaranteed. In this study we evaluated the accuracy of the international normalised ratios (INR) generated from the CoaguChek S and the newer CoaguChek XS against our laboratory standard.

Methods: The INR values obtained from 87 tests on the CoaguChek S and 97 tests on the CoaguChek XS were compared with those generated from a laboratory based coagulation analyser.