Haemostasis Physiology Flashcards
what is haemostasis?
arrest of bleeding and maintenance of vascular patency
what is primary haemostasis?
formation of the platelet plug (in severe bleeding can be washed away)
what is secondary haemostasis?
formation of the fibrin clot
what is fibrinolysis
maintaining vascular patency and switching haemostasis off
what are platelets?
small anucleate discs with a lifespan of 7-10 days
what does endothelial wall damage cause?
exposes collagen and releases VWF
what does VWF do?
platelets have receptors to VWF leading to platelet adhesion at the site of the injury
also carries factor VIII
what do the bound platelets secrete?
ADP
thromboxane A2
what does the secretion of ADP and thromboxane A2 from the platelets cause?
further aggregation
what do platelets bind to at the site of injury?
subendothelial collagen via:
- VWF
- glycoprotein 1b
what allows platelets to attach to one and other?
GPIIbIIIa
fibrinogen
causes of failure of formation of the platelet plug
vascular
thrombocytopenia
VWF deficiency
what are vascular causes of failure of formation of the platelet plug?
lack of collagen leads to weakened endothelial walls e.g. ageing and scurvy
three causes of thrombocytopenia
- reduced production
- increased destruction
- functional defects
what causes reduced production thrombocytopenia?
bone marrow failure
what causes increased destruction thrombocytopenia?
coagulopathy (DIC)
AI (ITP)
hypersplenism
how does alcohol cause hypersplenism and thrombocytopenia?
alcohol causes portal hypertension and cirrhosis backs up to the spleen causing hypersplenism that traps platelets reducing count
alcohol can also have a toxic effect on the spleen
functional defects causes of thrombocytopenia
drugs (aspirin, NSAIDs)
renal failure
inheritance of VWF deficiency
AD
presentation of failure of primary haemostasis
easy bruising/ purpura/ petechiae
mucosal bleeding (epistaxis, conjunctival haemorrhage)
menorrhagia