Primary malignant melanoma of the urethra: a systematic analysis of the current literature.

Background: Primary malignant melanoma of the urethra is a rare tumour that most commonly affects the meatus and distal urethra. General prognosis seems to be poor. To date, there have been no systematic reviews on this topic.

Prevalence of hereditary antithrombin mutations is higher than estimated in patients with thrombotic events.

Antithrombin is the major inhibitor of blood coagulation, primarily inactivating thrombin and factor Xa. Inherited antithrombin deficiency is associated with an increased risk of thromboembolism. Its prevalence is estimated to be about 0.

Influence of 8 and 24-h storage of whole blood at ambient temperature on prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, thrombin time, antithrombin and D-dimer.

This study evaluates the effect of whole blood storage on common coagulation parameters in order to confirm or revise acceptable storage limits as defined by current guidelines and diverse study reports. Aliquots were taken from the citrated whole blood of inpatients and outpatients (n = 147) within 4 h after blood withdrawal and after extended storage of whole blood for 8 and 24 h at ambient temperature. Aliquots were centrifuged and analyzed for prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (Fbg), antithrombin (AT), thrombin time (TT) and D-dimer.