Publications by authors named "Ruhl H"

Splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT), which is particularly prevalent in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), has a multifactorial pathomechanism involving the anticoagulant protein C (PC) pathway. To better characterize the hypercoagulable state in SVT we assessed its key enzymes thrombin and activated PC (APC). The study population included 73 patients with SVT, thereof 36 MPN+, confirmed by bone marrow biopsy, 37 MPN-, and 30 healthy controls.

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Introduction: Maintaining the balance between procoagulant and anticoagulant factors is essential for effective haemostasis. Emerging evidence suggests a modulation of bleeding tendency by factors in the anticoagulant and fibrinolytic systems.

Aim: This study investigates the clinical and laboratory characteristics of a family with combined von Willebrand disease (VWD) and antithrombin (AT) deficiency.

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Thrombophilia management is based on the personal and family history of thrombosis. Current guidelines recommend performing thrombophilia testing only when the results will change clinical management. To investigate to what extent treatment recommendations changed following thrombophilia testing, clinical and laboratory data of 255 patients with and without venous thromboembolism who underwent thrombophilia screening were assessed retrospectively.

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Sepsis-associated coagulopathy increases risk of mortality. Impairment of the anticoagulant protein C (PC) pathway may contribute to the thrombotic phenotype in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) sepsis. This study assessed the functionality of this pathway in COVID-19 and non-COVID sepsis by measuring its key enzymes, thrombin and activated PC (APC).

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Introduction: Lonoctocog alfa is a single-chain factor VIII (FVIII) molecule with high binding affinity to von-Willebrand-factor. While it is well known that its plasma activity is underestimated by one-stage clotting assays (OSCA), there is a lack of knowledge on the post-infusion performance of lonoctocog alfa in global coagulation assays or its potential impact on the haemostatic balance in vivo.

Aim: To characterize lonoctocog alfa versus octocog alfa in pre- and post-infusion samples obtained from patients undergoing repeated investigation of incremental recovery (IR).

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Article Synopsis
  • Atypical thrombosis sites such as upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (UE-DVT), splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT), and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) share some similarities with typical venous thromboembolism (VTE) but their underlying mechanisms are less understood.
  • A retrospective analysis of 2,011 patients with a history of typical VTE and atypical sites revealed a high rate of site-specific risk factors in UE-DVT and significant associations of SVT with systemic inflammation and infection.
  • In CVST, hormonal factors appear to play a significant role, evidenced by higher rates of oral contraception and pregnancy among patients, while specific mutations like
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Background: Recently, we have shown alterations in the anticoagulant response to recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa)-induced coagulation activation in patients with thrombophilia.

Objectives: This study aimed to extend this model to fibrinolysis biomarkers.

Methods: This interventional study included 56 patients with thrombophilia and previous venous thromboembolism (VTE+), 38 without VTE (VTE-), and 35 healthy controls.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A study analyzed genetic data from 704 patients and found a 55% rate of detecting pathogenic variants, identifying many new variants and observing a link between FVII activity levels and variant detection.
  • * The common M2 allele was more frequent in patients with mild deficiency and those without identified pathogenic variants, indicating it may contribute to lower FVII activity levels.
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Background: Estrogen receptor (ER)-positive (ER+) breast cancer accounts for approximately 75% of all breast cancers. Tamoxifen, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, is the standard adjuvant treatment. Although better tolerated than aromatase inhibitors, tamoxifen increases the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) 1.

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Public health interventions rely on information exchange to influence health outcomes. Increasingly, practitioners are working to be intentional with public health messaging. The language used to communicate program objectives and health recommendations should reflect the community's lived experience and avoid perpetuating health and social inequities.

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STANDARDIZED IN VITRO AND IN VIVO MODEL SYSTEMS TO SIMPLIFY COMPLEXITY-THAT'S HOW WE LEARN: The discovery of new target molecules and translational progress in the development and refinement of antithrombotic therapies as well as the improved treatment of bleeding disorders strongly relies on standardized ex vivo and in vivo models that closely resemble the respective human pathologies. The standardization of these models requires sound training in specialized hemostasis and thrombosis research laboratories as well as a consistent daily routine. In this theme issue of , four review articles cover key models that have proven instrumental to gain mechanistic insights on thrombogenesis and hemostatic processes.

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Background: Accurate measurement of emicizumab in the presence of factor (F) VIII is required in patients with severe hemophilia A treated with emicizumab, as well as additional need for FVIII substitution or emicizumab prophylaxis in patients with acquired or moderate to mild hemophilia A. However, the presence of FVIII potentially biases the results.

Objectives: To assess the impact of plasma FVIII activity on determined emicizumab levels and evaluate different strategies for correction for or preanalytical inhibition of FVIII.

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Introduction:  Inherited dysfibrinogenemia is a qualitative defect of fibrinogen caused by various mutations among three fibrinogen genes. Dysfibrinogenemia can be associated with an increased risk of thrombosis, bleeding, or both. Here, we report a 36-year-old female with dysfibrinogenemia who experienced two successful pregnancies under thromboprophylaxis after cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST).

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Background: The endothelial cell-dependent PC (protein C) pathway is critically involved in the regulation of coagulation, anti-inflammatory, and cytoprotective signaling. Its reactivity shows high interindividual variability, and it contributes to prothrombotic disorders, such as the FVL (factor V Leiden) mutation.

Methods: Endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) were isolated from heparinized peripheral blood from healthy individuals and FVL carriers.

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A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS-13) is a metalloprotease that regulates the size of circulating von Willebrand factor (vWF) multimers. Severe lack of ADAMTS-13 activity [<10% of normal (0.1 IU/mL)] leads to thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a specific type of thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA).

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Considering the increasing number of patients suffering from drug-induced coagulation disorders caused by antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy, the right balance between minimizing the risk of bleeding and the risk of a venous thrombosis or embolism during otorhinolaryngologic (ORL) surgery is becoming increasingly important. According to a recent study, the highest risk of intraoperative bleeding in ORL surgery is associated with transoral tumor surgery, tonsillectomy, thyroidectomy, and glomus tumor surgery. The risk of venous thrombosis or embolism during ORL surgery is estimated to be 1%, and increases to 6% among tumor patients.

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Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) apixaban and rivaroxaban are broadly used in the management of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Although not routinely required, measurement of their plasma concentration is advised for an increasing number of indications. Due to the lack of therapeutic ranges, current guidelines recommend reporting DOAC plasma levels together with expected levels from previous pivotal studies.

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Activated protein C (APC) is a serine protease with anticoagulant and cytoprotective activities which make it an attractive target for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In this work, we present one-step activation of APC from a commercial source of protein C (PC, Ceprotin) followed by rapid and efficient purification using an APC-specific aptamer, HS02-52G, loaded on MyOne superparamagnetic beads. Due to the Ca-dependent binding of APC to HS02-52G, an efficient capturing of APC was applied in the presence of Ca ions, while a gentle release of captured APC was achieved in the elution buffer containing low EDTA concentration (5 mM).

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Elevated D-dimer levels during anticoagulant therapy with vitamin K antagonists (VKA) are associated with an increased risk of thrombosis. It has been hypothesized that elevated D-dimer levels in patients receiving direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) also indicate an increased risk of thrombosis recurrence, but data on the distribution of D-dimer levels in patients with VTE on DOACs are sparse. In the present study we retrospectively analyzed D-dimer levels in patients taking DOACs after first or recurrent venous thrombosis ( = 1,716, 1,126 thereof rivaroxaban, 481 apixaban, 62 edoxaban, and 47 dabigatran).

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The generation and expansion of functionally competent NK cells is of great interest for their application in immunotherapy of cancer. Since CD33 constitutes a promising target for immunotherapy of myeloid malignancies, NK cells expressing a CD33-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) were generated. Unexpectedly, we noted that CD33-CAR NK cells could not be efficiently expanded due to a fratricide-like process in which CD33-CAR NK cells killed other CD33-CAR NK cells that had upregulated CD33 in culture.

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Axial flow pumps are standard treatment in cases of cardiogenic shock and high-risk interventions in cardiology and cardiac surgery, although the optimal anticoagulation strategy remains unclear. We evaluated whether laboratory findings could predict bleeding complications and acquired von Willebrand syndrome (avWS) among patients who were treated using axial flow pumps. We retrospectively evaluated 60 consecutive patients who received Impella devices (Impella RP: n = 20, Impella CP/5.

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Protein C (PC) activity tests are routinely performed in a thrombophilia workup to screen for PC deficiency. Currently used tests combine conversion of PC to activated PC (APC) by the snake venom Protac with subsequent APC detection through hydrolysis of a chromogenic peptide substrate or prolongation of a clotting time. In this prospective cohort study, we analyzed how different modes of PC activation and subsequent APC determination influence the diagnostic accuracy of PC activity testing in a cohort of 31 patients with genetically confirmed PC deficiency.

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