Direct Oral Anticoagulant removal by a DOAC filter: Impact on lupus anticoagulant testing - Evaluation on spiked and patient samples.

Background: DOAC Filter (DF) is a new device to overcome interference in lupus anticoagulant (LAC) testing by direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs).

Objectives: We evaluated DOAC removal from plasma and elimination of DOAC interference in LAC testing by DF, and impact of DF on LAC assays in a representative patient cohort, including a comparison with DOAC-Stop (DS).

Methods: Normal pooled plasma (NPP) was spiked with increasing concentrations of apixaban, rivaroxaban, edoxaban, and dabigatran. DOAC and LAC was measured on untreated, DF-treated, and DS-treated spiked samples. Coagulation parameters and thrombin generation were measured on patient samples (n = 20) before and after DF. Patients treated with DOAC, vitamin K antagonist, or heparin and nonanticoagulated patient samples (n = 139) were tested for LAC before and after DF.

Results: In spiked NPP, levels were below the lower limit of quantification (LLoQ) after DF/DS treatment for all DOAC concentrations. Following DF, levels were below LLoQ for 53 of 56 DOAC-containing patient samples. Twenty-eight of 33 LAC-positive DOAC-containing samples became negative after filtration, whereas 5 remained LAC-positive (1/5 from a patient with antiphospholipid syndrome [APS]). Four LAC-positive DOAC-containing samples (from patients without APS), became negative after filtration, whereas they remained LAC positive after DS. In the non-DOAC patient groups following DF, LAC changed from positive to negative in 8 (due to a procoagulant effect) and vice versa in 2 cases.

Conclusion: DF reduces DOAC interference in LAC testing. As incomplete DOAC removal may occur, DOAC measurements should be performed after filtration. A procoagulant effect after filtration may lead to erroneous LAC results in non-DOAC-containing samples. Therefore, using DF should be restricted to DOAC-containing samples.