Diagnostic Performance of a New Rapid Lateral Flow Immunoassay in Patients Suspected of Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia and Its Clinical Consequences.

We prospectively evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of a new rapid assay (STic Expert HIT) alone or in combination with a clinical score in 90 HIT-suspected patients. The 4Ts score was calculated, and ELISA and serotonin-release assay (SRA) were performed; the average time taken for test results were 2 and 5 days for ELISA and SRA, respectively. The STic test was performed in our laboratory as an evaluation exercise and the result was available in 1 hour, but results were not communicated to the clinicians so as to not influence management.

Transfusions, major bleeding, and prevention of venous thromboembolism with enoxaparin or fondaparinux in thoracic surgery.

Enoxaparin 40 mg/day (E) or fondaparinux 2.5 mg/day (F) are recommended to prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE) in medical and surgical patients at risk. Over the two years after switching from E to F in our 35-bed department of pulmonology and thoracic surgery, an increase in the number of transfusions was observed.

Fetal intracerebral hemorrhage in familial thrombophilia.

We describe a fetal intracerebral hemorrhage associated with familial thrombophilia. Intraventricular and intraparenchymal hemorrhage of the left cerebral hemisphere was diagnosed at 22 weeks of gestation. Neuropathologic examination demonstrated a large germinal zone hemorrhage and ischemic changes secondary to bleeding.

Activation of PAK1/2 during the shedding of platelet microvesicles.

Simultaneously to phospholipid flip-flop that supports the procoagulant activity of activated platelets, blebs, supported by actin reorganization, are formed at the plasma membrane and generate microvesicles. The molecular mechanism of microvesicle shedding from activated platelets implicates Ca influx and Ca-dependent protease, calpain. We previously demonstrated that the formation of lamellipodias and filopodias associated with platelet shape change involved the reorganization of actin filaments through a Cdc42/Rac1/p21-activated kinase (PAK)-dependent pathway.

Development of a novel immunoassay for the assessment of plasma Gas6 concentrations and their variation with hormonal status.

Background: Gas6 is a vitamin K-dependent antiapoptotic protein that has been implicated in cardiovascular pathophysiology. We report the development and validation of an ELISA for Gas6, and the variation of plasma Gas6 with hormonal status in a study designed to evaluate the effect of oral contraception on plasma markers.

Methods: After validation of the main stages of the ELISA assay, we measured plasma Gas6 concentrations in 94 male and 88 female healthy volunteers ages 18 to 38 years.

Polymorphonuclear leukocyte and monocyte activation induced by plasma from patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia in whole blood.

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), a severe complication of heparin therapy, results from platelet activation by heparin-dependent antibodies. Previously, we have shown that plasma from patients with HIT (HIT plasma) induces leukocyteplatelet aggregation in blood. In this report, we examined leukocyte activation by HIT plasma and the contribution of heparin and platelets to this activation, in whole blood.

Mutations in the SDHB gene are associated with extra-adrenal and/or malignant phaeochromocytomas.

Germ-line mutations in the genes encoding succinate dehydrogenase complex subunits B (SDHB) and D (SDHD) have been reported in familial paragangliomas and apparently sporadic phaeochromocytomas (ASP), but the genotype-phenotype relationships of these mutations are unknown. Eighty-four patients (all but 2 followed up for 8.8 +/- 5.