[Spirometry: quality in the respiratory medicine clinics of a public health care area].

Background: Spirometry can be considered a routine way to evaluate patients with respiratory complaints, both inside and outside the hospital setting.

Objective: To assess the quality of spirometry in a public health care area with respect to two factors: the technicians' performance and the calibration of spirometers.

Material And Method: Four health care clinics were studied.

Heparin and Concanavalin A interaction: isolation of fraction with higher anticoagulant activity.

Heparin and Concanavalin A complexes were studied under different conditions. Interaction was measured by reading the turbidity at 420 nm. The influence of the pH, heparin, and salt concentration was measured.