Oral anticoagulation care varies considerably from country to country. Findings suggest that anticoagulation clinic care (ACC) may provide better outcomes as assessed by international normalized ratio (INR) time-in-range. Physicians tend to under treat more than over treat. Finally, documentation of care is often inadequate. Condensed Abstract Oral anticoagulation management (routine medical care or anticoagulation clinic care) was retrospectively assessed in 5 countries using a uniform, structured assessment tool. Major management differences were detected, especially between anticoagulation clinic care and routine care. Documentation was often a problem in the latter setting. Less time in therapeutic INR range was noted in routine medical care. Findings suggest that anticoagulation clinic care may provide better outcomes as assessed by international normalized ratio (INR) time-in-range. Physicians tend to under treat more than over treat. Finally, documentation of care is often inadequate.

Fibrinolysis has been recognized as an important cause of intraoperative bleeding during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Several investigators have used prophylactic administration of aprotinin in patients to inhibit fibrinolysis and to decrease transfusion requirements, morbidity, and mortality. Nevertheless, the role of aprotinin in this situation is not yet clear. The goal of this study was to determine the effects of prophylactic administration of aprotinin on intraoperative bleeding and blood requirements, and on hemostatic changes during OLT. Eighty consecutive patients were included in a double-blind, prospective study and were randomized in two groups. In group A (n = 39), an initial dose of 2 x 10(6) kallikrein inactivator units (KIU) of aprotinin was administered in the induction of anesthesia followed by infusion of 5 x 10(5) KIU/h until the end of the procedure. The control group (n = 41) received an identical volume of saline solution. The majority of the operations were performed with vena cava preservation (piggy-back technique) without venovenous bypass. During the anhepatic phase, a significant increase in levels of tissue plasminogen activator, thrombin-antithrombin complexes (TAT) and D-dimers (DD) was noted in both groups. A significant increment of TAT was observed in group A during reperfusion. The remaining hemostatic parameters were similar in both groups. Intraoperative requirements of packed red cells, fresh-frozen plasma (FFP), platelets, and cryoprecipitate were similar in the two groups. Our results suggest that prophylactic administration of aprotinin is not useful in reducing bleeding and blood product requirements during OLT.

SummaryAlterations of the kallikrein-kinin system consistent with activation and increased consumption have been re2ported in septic patients and it has been suggested that this activation could contribute to the development of septic shock.The aim of this work was to confirm these alterations in septic patients and to investigate the possible existence of similar changes in subjects developing cardiogenic shock secondary to myocardial infarction as a model of non septic shock.Patients with septic shock, especially in fatal cases, showed a highly significant decrease in levels of factor XII, prekallikrein, high molecular weight kininogen (HMW-kininogen), α2-macro-globulin (α2-M) and antithrombin III (AT-III). C1-esterase inhibitor (C1-INH) activity was increased in uncomplicated sepsis but came back to normal or was slightly decreased in septic shock.Components and inhibitors of the kallikrein-kinin system were within normal limits in patients with cardiogenic shock.Our findings support the idea of a contribution of the kallikrein-kinin system to the development of septic shock though this system does not seem to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of cardiogenic shock or seem to be altered as a consequence of it.

To evaluate whether or not activated coagulation is present in the preclinical phases of type 2 diabetes mellitus, we studied 46 non-diabetic first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetic patients and 21 matched controls with no family history of diabetes. We determined the plasma levels of prothrombin fragment 1 + 2, D-dimer, fibrinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1, tissue plasminogen activator, von Willebrand factor and coagulation factors VII and VIII. Glucose tolerance, beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity were assessed in all subjects by a continuous glucose infusion of 5 mg.kg ideal body weight-1.min-1 for 60 min with model assessment of glucose, insulin and C-peptide values. Plasma levels of prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (median 1.24 vs 0.68 nmol.l-1; P = 0.0001) and D-dimer (331 vs 254 micrograms.l-1 UEF; P = 0.018) were higher in relatives, without significant differences in the other haemostatic variables. Relatives showed higher fasting (5.5 vs 4.9 mmol.l-1, P = 0.004) and post-infusion (9.3 vs 8.3 mmol.l-1, P = 0.02) serum glucose, no differences in insulin or C-peptide levels, lower beta-cell function (122% vs 147%; P = 0.02) and no significant differences in insulin sensitivity. Fifteen relatives were glucose-intolerant and had lower beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity than glucose-tolerant relatives. Both subsets of relatives exhibited higher levels of prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 and D-dimer than control subjects. Thus, first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetic patients present an activated coagulation, even in the absence of minor degrees of glucose intolerance. These abnormalities can play a role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases frequently seen at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the portable coagulometer CoaguChek^® (Roche Diagnostics) as a prothrombin time (PT) monitor, and to correlate capillary blood results with those of three different routine methods used for monitoring oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT): capillary, plasma and whole blood samples. Three hospitals participated in the study with a total of 235 patients on OAT. The international normalized ratio (INR) results obtained with CoaguChek were compared with those obtained using each of the routine methods. The study presents a good correlation between the PT monitor and the three methods studied: r = 0.9745 (hospital A), r = 0.9283 (hospital B), r = 0.9136 (hospital C). A simplified concordance test of the methods results in a nine-field comparison table showing concordances of 87.2, 85.7 and 68.4%, respectively. The absolute difference (mean ± SD) between laboratory A and CoaguChek INRs was 0.0571 ± 0.2042, with values of 0.04286 ± 0.3906 for laboratory B and 0.6986 ± 0.6170 for laboratory C. These results confirm that CoaguChek could be used as a new method for oral anticoagulant monitoring, and is in best agreement with the capillary blood PT system.