1B haemostasis Flashcards
What is haemostasis?
The cellular and biochemical processes that enables both the specific and regulated cessation of bleeding in response to vascular insult
What is haemostasis for?
- Prevention of blood loss from intact vessels
- Arrest bleeding from injured vessels
- Enable tissue repair
Describe the overall mechanism of haemostasis
1) Injury to endothelial cell lining
2) Vessel constriction and vascular smooth muscle cells contract locally to limit blood flow to injured vessel
3) Primary Haemostasis: Formation of unstable platelet plug. Platelet adhesion and aggregation to vessel wall (via VWF) and each other. This limits blood loss and provides surface for coagulation.
4) Secondary haemostasis: Stabilisation of plug with fibrin. Causes blood coagulation to stop blood loss.
5) Fibrinolysis: Vessel repair and dissolution of clot. Cell migration/proliferation and fibrinolysis. Restores vessel integrity.
Why do we need to understand homeostatic mechanisms?
- Diagnose and treat bleeding disorders
- Control bleeding in individuals who don’t have an underlying bleeding disorder
- Identify risk factors for thrombosis
- Treat thrombotic disorders
- Monitor drugs used to treat bleeding and thrombotic disorders
What is haemostasis a balance between?
- Bleeding (fibrinolytic factors, anticoagulant proteins)
- Thrombosis (coagulant factors, platelets)
When can the balance in homeostasis be tipped towards bleeding?
When there’s either:
- Too many fibrinolytic factors or anticoagulant proteins
- Not enough coagulant factors or platelets
What are the types of causes for a lack of coagulant factors?
- Lack of specific factor
- failure of production: congenital and acquired
- increased consumption/clearance
- Defective function of a specific factor
- genetic
- acquired: drugs, synthetic defect, inhibition
Describe what is happening in this diagram
- Platelets can adhere directly to vessel wall through GP1a receptor or via VWF via GP1b receptor
- Platelets need to release granular contents and they become activated along with thromboxane release
- Leads to flip flopping and activation of GP2b/3a receptors on platelets
Causes of disorders of primary haemostasis
-
Platelets
- Low numbers, i.e. thrombocytopenia
- Impaired function of platelets
-
VWF
- Von Willebrand disease
-
Vessel wall
- Inherited diseases (rare)
- Acquired (common)
What can low numbers of platelets be due to?
- Bone marrow failure e.g. leukaemia, B12 deficiency
- Accelerated clearance, e.g. disseminated intramuscular coagulation (DIC), immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
- Pooling and destruction in an enlarged spleen
Describe how ITP works
- Antiplatelet antibodies bind to sensitised platelets
- Macrophages of reticular endothelial system in spleen clear these platelets
- ITP is v common cause of thrombocytopenia
What can impaired function of platelets be due to?
- Inherited causes due to hereditary absence of glycoproteins or storage granules (rare)
- Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia
- Bernard Soulier syndrome
- Storage pool disease
- Acquired due to drugs: aspirin, NSAIDS, clopidogrel (common)
What is Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia?
Absence of GP2b/3a receptor
What is Bernard Soulier syndrome?
Absence of GP1b receptor
What is storage pool disease?
Reduction in contents of dense granules of platelets
What is antiplatelet therapy used for?
Prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease
How does clopidogrel work?
Blocks ADP receptor P2Y12 on platelets
What are some causes of Von Willebrand disease?
- Hereditary decrease of quantity (and sometimes function)- common
- Acquired due to antibody- rare
What are the two main functions of VWF in haemostasis?
- Binding to collagen and capturing platelets
- Stabilising factor VIII (factor VIII may be low if VWF is very low)
Describe the inheritance of VWD
- Autosomal inheritance pattern
- Deficiency of VWF is type 1 or 3
- VWF with abnormal function is type 2
What are some inherited diseases that affect the vessel wall that can cause a problem in primary haemostasis?
- Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (connections between arteries and veins prone to bleeding)
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and other connective tissue disorders
What are some acquired diseases that affect the vessel wall that can cause a problem in primary haemostasis?
- Steroid therapy
- People on long term steroids can develop atrophy of collagen fibres supporting blood vessels in skin
- Ageing (senile purpura)
- Dark purple, well defined margins that don’t undergo same colour changes as a bruise and can take up to 3 weeks to resolve
- Most commonly on extensor surfaces and dorsal aspects of hands
- Scurvy (vit C deficiency)
- Defects in collagen synthesis leading to weakening of capillary walls
- Vasculitis
What are the clinical features of disorders of primary haemostasis?
- Immediate bleeding
- Prolonged bleeding from cuts
- Nose bleeds (epistaxis)- are prolonged if >20 mins
- Gum bleeding- prolonged
- Heavy menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia)
- Bruising (ecchymosis), may be spontaneous/easy
- Prolonged bleeding after trauma/surgery
What is a particular feature of thrombocytopenia?
Petechiae- small spots under skin caused by bleeding under skin
In what types of disorders do we see purpura?
- Platelet disorders (thrombocytopenic purpura)
- Vascular disorders (sometimes called wet purpura when its over mucosal surfaces like gums)
How to tell the difference between petechiae and purpura?
- Both caused by bleeding under skin
- Purpura don’t blanch when pressure is applied
- Petechiae are <3mm in size and purpura is 3-10mm → it’s called bruising when >10mm
What is the bleeding pattern like in severe VWD?
Haemophilia-like bleeding (due to low FVIII)
What are the tests for disorders of primary haemostasis?
- Platelet count, platelet morphology (often not seen under light microscopy and electron microscope needed)
- Bleeding time (PFA100 in lab)- we used to make an incision in skin and measure time it took for bleeding to stop- brutal and not sensitive/specific so replaced with PFA1000
- Assays of VWF
- Clinical observation
Note: coagulation screen (PT, APTT) are usually normal in primary haemostasis disorders (except more severe VWD cases where FVIII is low)
What do we give for failure of production or function?
- Replace missing factor/platelets e.g. VWF containing concentrates
- Can be prophylactic e.g. before surgery or therapeutic e.g. after bleeding
- Stop drugs e.g. aspirin/NSAIDs
- Stop drugs e.g. aspirin/NSAIDs
What do we give for immune destruction?
- Immunosuppression e.g. prednisolone
- Splenectomy for ITP
What do we give for increase in consumption e.g. in DIC?
- Treat underlying cause
- Replacement therapy as necessary
What additional haemostatic treatments for primary homeostasis disorders are there?
- Desmopressin (ddAVP)- vasopressin analogue which causes 2-5x increase in VWF (and FVIII)- releases endogenous stores so only useful in mild disorders
- Tranexamic acid- it’s antifibrinolytic
- Fibrin glue/spray
- Other approaches e.g. hormonal (oral contraceptive pill for menorrhagia)
What is the role of coagulation?
To generate thrombin (factor IIa) which converts fibrinogen into fibrin
What would a deficiency of any coagulation factor cause?
A failure of thrombin generation and hence fibrin formation