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Although antibody inhibitors directed against blood coagulation factors are well known, antibody inhibitors directed against thrombin are rare. We describe three postsurgical patients with prosthetic cardiac valves who developed serum autoantibodies reactive with human and bovine thrombin, as demonstrated by coagulation studies and immunoblotting. Despite marked prolongation of the thrombin tim...

Haemophilia is a rare and congenital bleeding disorder caused by a genetic defect, resulting in a lack of or insufficient coagulation factors VIII or IX in the body. In affected individuals, this causes an inability to clot blood, leading to bleeds in the joints, muscles and soft tissues. If left untreated, this can lead to disability and sometimes death. It is widely agreed that the optimal st...

Blood coagulation has a Janus-faced role in infectious diseases. When systemically activated, it can cause serious complications associated with high morbidity and mortality. However, coagulation is also part of the innate immune system and its local activation has been found to play an important role in the early host response to infection. Though the latter aspect has been less investigated, ...

Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is a potentially life-saving procedure which effectively removes donor-specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies from the bloodstream, allowing critically ill heart transplant recipients to receive a donor organ with less wait time, and reducing the risk of acute organ rejection. The bulk of coagulation factors is initially removed from the blood during...

Background. Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is a potentially life-threatening complication for women, and the leading cause of maternal mortality. Tranexamic acid (TXA) is an antifibrinolytic used worldwide to treat uterine haemorrhage and to reduce blood loss in general surgery. TXA may have effects on thrombin generation, platelet function and coagulation factors as a result of its inhibition on...

A scientist whose work with the blood coagulation system led to effective treatments for people with hemophilia is the recipient of the ninth annual Bristol-Myers Squibb Award The prize carries with it a $50 000 award and a silver medallion. In research that spanned more than 4 decades, Dr Davie hypothesized, elucidated, and defined the blood clotting system. His work began as a graduate studen...

Ongoing bleeding from patients who have an acquired coagulopathy post-surgery is a common problem. Strategies that are available to combat this problem revolve around the replacement of coagulation factors, platelets, and red blood cells as necessary. These strategies are not always successful and a more direct approach to activating the coagulation system can be more effective and in some inst...

Stroke and Blood Coagulation • A study of the coagulation parameters of 87 normal controls (ages 50 to 80) were compared with those of 33 patients with thrombotic stroke and 55 patients with diabetes mellitus of the same age distribution. There were no significant differences when tested for the influence of sex or age. Twenty-seven tests of clotting were done on each specimen, a total of 4,725...