ASF - Bleeding Disorders (Squires) Flashcards
What specific toxin can lead to aplastic anemia?
Benzene
What is the function of glucuronlytransferase on bilirubin?
This enzyme conjugates bilirubin with glucuronic acid, which makes it more soluble and better able to be excreted in the urine
When evaluating a patient for a bleeding disorder, why is it important to ask about current medications the patient might be taking?
Some medications can deplete clotting factors or interfere with the numbers of specific cell types in the blood.
Examples:
Anticoagulants (warfarin, heparin, etc.), aspirin, antibiotics, tricyclic antidepressants, and supplements (vitamins C and E, ginger, garlic)
True or False: The clinical appearance of bleeding can indicate the type of disorder that is most likely.
True
Platelet abnormalities: petechiae, gingival bleeding, epistaxis, immediate post-op bleed
Abnormal coagulation factors: hematomas, hemarthrosis, delayed post-op bleed
What is the clinical term for this condition and which type of bleeding disorder does this kid likely have?
Hemarthrosis
The child most likely has a coagulation factor abnormality. Further testing should be done to determine the specific disorder.
True or False: Coagulation factor abnormalities are more common in males than in females.
True
Coagulation factor abnormalities are more common in males. This is due to the fact that many factor abnormalities are inherited through X-linked recessive genes. Mothers are carriers, and if they pass the diseased allele to a male child, he has a 100% chance of getting the disorder.
What is the name of this condition and which type of bleeding disorder would most likely cause this?
Gingival bleeding
This type of bleeding is most often seen in platelet abnormalities. Other common findings in platelet abnormalities are bruising and petechiae.
Remember that females are more likely to have platelet abnormalities than males.
Which clotting factor abnormality can only be determined by a prothrombin time (PT)?
Factor VII deficiency
Remember:
PT tests factors VII, X, V, II, and I
aPTT tests factors II, V, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, prekallikrein, high molecular weight kininogen (HMWK) and fibrinogen (factor I)
The only one that does not overlap with aPTT is factor VII, making PT the best option for this test.
Which clotting factors does an activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) test for?
Factors II, V, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, prekallikrein, high molecular weight kininogen (HMWK), and fibrinogen (factor I)
Remember that aPTT tests for the common pathway AND the intrinsic pathway.
Which clotting factors does a prothrombin time (PT) test for?
Factors II, V, X, VII, and I (fibrinogen)
Remember that PT tests the common AND extrinsic pathways
What is a mixing study and what 2 types of factor abnormalities does it detect?
A mixing study is a 1:1 dilution of patient’s plasma with normal plasma that is then analyzed via PT and aPTT.
Mixing studies test whether or not there is a factor deficiency OR a factor inhibitor
If the mixing study leads to a correction in PT/aPTT, then the patient has a factor deficiency.
If the PT/aPTT does not get corrected via mixing study, the patient has a factor inhibitor.
Ideally, when should mixing studies be done to ensure that all factor inhibitors are detected? Why is time an issue?
Mixing studies should be done immediately after the first blood draw and then once more after the sample has been incubated for 30-60 minutes.
Some inhibitors (ex: lupus anticoagulants, factor VIII) are time-dependent and will degrade over time. Adhering to a time schedule ensures that these inhibitors will be detected.
What is the normal range for prothrombin time (PT)?
12.2 - 14.2 seconds
Which test (PT or aPTT) is used to monitor warfain therapy?
PT
Warfarin is an inhibitor of vitamin K, which is required to synthesize factors II, VII, IX, and X. Three out of four of these factors are tested via PT, making it the ideal test for this type of therapy
aPTT is used as a screening tool to detect a specific disease and to manage therapy with a certain drug. Name the disease and drug.
von Willebrand disease and heparin therapy
von Willebrand disease is a platelet deficiency/malfunction that decreases factor VIII half-life in the blood and increases bleeding.
Heparin activates antithrombin III, which inactivates factors in the intrinsic pathway and kallikrein. Because aPTT measures the intrinsic pathway, it is used for this form of thearpy.
What is considered to be a normal range for activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT)?
23 - 36 seconds
A 33-year-old woman comes into the office complaining of increased bruising, gingival bleeding, and heavy menstrual flow. The results of her labs are as follows: PT = 13.1 sec, aPTT = 43 sec.
Upon performing a mixing study, you retest the PT and aPTT and get 13 sec and 43 sec, respectively. What factor abnormality (deficiency or inhibitor) does your patient have?
Factor inhibitor
Remember that when a mixing study does not correct PT or aPTT, the patient has a factor inhibitor. This is usually due to the fact that patients have an excess of inhibitor, which ends up inactivating the factors in the normal serum sample, preventing the PT/aPTT from changing.
What is a thrombin time (TT) and what is it used for?
Thrombin time (TT) is the time it takes for a fibrin clot to form after the addition of thrombin concentration to patient’s citrated plasma.
TT is used to screen for bleeding disorders (afibrinogenemia, DIC) and effects of anticoagulant drugs (argatroban, lepirudin, tPA, heparin)
What are the levels of fibrinogen in a normal patient and how low can fibrinogen levels go before coagulation is decreased?
170-500 mg/dL
Usually patients with 100 mg/dL or above do not experience any coagulation problems.
What is bleeding time (BT) and why is it no longer used to determine bleeding disorders?
Bleeding time is a test in which the physician makes a small incision on the patient’s arm and measures the time it takes for the bleeding to stop. Normal BT is usually 9-11 minutes.
This is no longer used because it is very subjective and there are better and faster tests available to diagnose bleeding disorders.
What is Light Transmission Aggregometry (LTA) and what does it measure?
LTA - patient’s plasma is mixed with aggregation agonists (ADP, EPI, collagen, ristocetin) and put in a spectrophotometer. The amount of light that shines through is measured. The idea is that platelets that aggregate will create a more cloudy appearance to the plasma, which will decrease light transmission.
LTA measures the ability of platelets to induce platelet aggregation.
Patients with platelet abnormalities will have less aggregation, which will make the plasma less cloudy, allowing more light to shine through the sample.
What are the 4 main platelet aggregation agonists used in light transmission aggregometry (LTA)?
ADP, epinephrine, collagen, and ristocetin
Glanzmann’s Thrombasthenia is characterized by lack of platelet aggregation with all main LTA agonists except what?
Ristocetin
Glanzmann’s is characterized by a lack of aggregation with ADP, collagen, and epinephrine AND increased aggregation with ristocetin.
A 25-year-old male comes to your office complaining of chronic nose bleeds that just won’t stop once they start. He is really stressed out because every time he goes on a date, his nose starts bleeding and scares everyone away. Lab results are below:
Normal PT and aPTT, low platelet count, increased bleeding time.
LTA results: aggregation with ADP, collagen, and epinephrine; no aggregation with ristocetin.
What disease do these lab results indicate?
Bernard-Soulier Syndrome
Remember that Bernard-Soulier syndrome is a platelet deficiency that prevents aggregation with ristocetin, but allows aggregation with ADP, EPI, and collagen.
What is a D-dimer?
A D-dimer is a fibrin degradation product (FDP) that consists of 2 fibrin D molecules connected via an activated factor XIIIa.
What does a high D-dimer indicate?
Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)
Marked increase in D-dimer levels is used as one of the criteria for diagnosing DIC.