Heritable bleeding disorders Flashcards
What are the primary and secondary stages in haemostatic plug formation?
Primary - platelet aggregation
Secondary - coagulation cascade forming a fibrin clot which stabilises the platelet plug
What are the 3 basic steps in platelet adhesion and activation?
1) Sight of vascular injury which platelets adhere to (via vWF which sticks to collagen in vessel wall)
2) As they adhere to the damaged endothelium they become activated
3) Activated platelets activate other platelets and they aggregate into a thrombus
How are clotting screen tests carried out?
Get rid of the cells from the blood so you are left with just plasma and activate the plasma by adding a reagent - time from when reagent added to fibrin clot formation (also add calcium as many of the reactions are calcium dependent)
What does the thrombin time measure?
The time taken for thrombin to cleave fibrinogen to fibrin
Which clotting factor cleaves pro-thrombin?
Factor 10a along with 5a which acts as a co factor
On what 2 surfaces does a lot of the clotting cascade take place?
1) Tissue factor bearing cells
2) Activated platelets
In vivo what is the role of the intrinsic pathway?
More of an amplification process
What is the sequence of the intrinsic pathway?
12-11-9-8
Common pathway 5 and 10 cleave prothrombin to thrombin which cleaves fibrinogen to fibrin
How is the extrinsic pathway activated?
TF activates 7 and TF-7a complex combine to cleave 10 to 10a
Platelets and clotting factors are the 2 procoagulants, name the 4 anti-coagulants?
1) Protein C
2) Protein S
3) Anti-thrombin 3
4) Fibrinolytic system
Which enzyme breaks down fibrin?
Plasmin (from plasminogen)
Which enzyme cleaves plasminogen?
Tissue plasminogen activator - an enzyme from the tissues
Name an enzyme involved in mopping up extra plasmin?
alpha 2 anti plasmin
Do congenital bleeding disorders often involve a single defect or multiple?
A single defect
Do acquired bleeding disorders often involve a single defect or multiple?
Multiple
People with defects in the primary coagulation pathway (platelets) tend to have what sort of bleeding pattern?
Bleeding into mucosa/skin, GI bleeding, menorrhagia, epistaxis, easy bleeding
People with defects in the secondary coagulation pathway (clotting factors) tend to have what sort of bleeding pattern?
Deep muscular and joint bleeds and bleeding following trauma
What are the 4 types of platelet/vessel wall defects (all of which give rise to a prolonged bleeding time)?
1) Reduced number of platelets (thrombocytopenia)
2) Abnormal platelet function (nb, drugs/aspirin)
3) Abnormal vessels wall
4) Abnormal interaction between platelets and vessel wall (von willebrand disease)
What is a petechial rash?
Small red dots in the skin which don’t blanch when you press them caused by bleeding into the skin
‘Petechiae and superficial bruises’ v ‘deep spreading haematoma’ - which is likely to be a coagulation defect and which a wall/platelet defect?
Petechiae and superficial bruises - platelets
Deep spreading haematoma - coagulation
‘skin and mucous membranes bleeding’ v ‘haemarthrosis’ - which is likely to be platelets/wall and which coagulation?
Skin and mucous membranes - vascular/ platelet
Haemarthrosis - coagulation
‘Spontaneous bleeding’ v ‘retroperitoneal bleeding’ which is likely to be platelets/wall and which coagulation?
Spontaneous bleeding - platelets
Retroperitoneal bleeding - coagulation
‘Bleeding prolonged and often recurrent’ v ‘bleeding immediate, prolonged and non recurrent’ - which is likely to be platelets/wall and which is coagulation?
Bleeding prolonged and recurrent - coagulation
Bleeding immediate, prolonged and non recurrent - wall/platelets