The sensitivity of different coagulation reagents to the presence of lupus anticoagulants

The sensitivity and responsiveness of seven activated partial thromboplastin time reagents to the presence of lupus anticoagulants (LAs) was evaluated with a panel of 50 well-characterized LA plasmas. The results document that some reagents are clearly less responsive and sensitive to LAs; however, there is considerable variability between individual LA samples in these features. In addition, with 16% of these samples, immediate mixing studies showed correction of the activated partial thromboplastin time to the normal range with a 1:1 mixture of normal and LA plasma and 8% to 10% showed either a normal platelet neutralization procedure or a normal tissue thromboplastin inhibition procedure. Together, these findings provide further evidence of the laboratory heterogeneity of these inhibitors. The effect of this variability on the diagnosis of these inhibitors is discussed.     

Evaluation of four coagulation tests to detect plasma lupus anticoagulants.

Lupus anticoagulant was detected in 205 newly diagnosed, untreated patients with systemic lupus erythematosus by the following tests: kaolin clotting time, activated partial thromboplastin time, plasma prothrombin time, and, in the last 99 patients, by dilute Russell's viper venom time. In 10 patients, lupus anticoagulant was detected by kaolin clotting time prolongation, corrected by inosithin but not by normal plasma; 12 and 6 of them had prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time and partial plasma prothrombin time, respectively. Only 10 patients had a history of recurrent abortions and/or thrombosis, nine of whom had lupus anticoagulant as shown by the kaolin clotting time test. Of the 99 patients studied by all four tests, 9 showed lupus anticoagulant by both kaolin clotting time and dilute Russell's viper venom time; 7 had a history of abortion and/or thrombosis. The dilute Russell's viper venom time test is easy to perform and not affected by inhibitors to factor VIII or IX. It is recommended as a primary screening test for lupus anticoagulant detection in a hospital clinical laboratory.     

The effects of adrenaline and noradrenaline on venous return and regional blood flows in the anaesthetized cat with special reference to intestinal blood flow

1. In cats, a venous long-circuit technique was used to measure the blood flows in the superior vena cava and the hepatic, renal and iliac segments of the inferior vena cava. The sum of these flows gave the venous return (minus coronary and bronchial flows). In further experiments using an electromagnetic flowmeter, flow in the portal vein and in the superior mesenteric and coeliac arteries was measured.2. Approximately two-thirds of the hepatic blood flow is derived from the portal vein.3. After block of conduction in the cervical region of the spinal cord, the proportions of the venous return coming from each region during the control periods were not significantly altered although the arterial pressure and total venous return were decreased.4. Intravenous infusions of adrenaline caused an increase in venous return which was associated with a marked increase in hepatic blood flow. The increase in hepatic blood flow was due to an increase in flow in the superior mesenteric artery and portal vein. Flow in the coeliac artery remained unchanged. This response was unaffected by block of the cervical region of the spinal cord and by atropine or pentolinium.5. Intravenous infusions of noradrenaline caused little change in venous return or regional blood flows. Small increases in superior mesenteric artery flow were occasionally seen and on cessation of the infusion a large but brief increase occurred. These facts suggest that noradrenaline has a similar action to adrenaline but this is masked by concomitant vasoconstriction.     

The laboratory heterogeneity of lupus anticoagulants

Approximately 2% of the patients screened in our laboratories with activated partial thromboplastin times are found to have a lupus anticoagulant. Recognition of lupus anticoagulants has assumed new importance because of a number of associated clinical conditions. Recurrent spontaneous abortions, arterial and venous thrombotic disease, and polyneuropathy have been described in patients with lupus anticoagulants. Although the clinical heterogeneity of these patients has been recognized increasingly, the laboratory identification of the lupus anticoagulant is still confusing and frustrating. In many cases, the diagnosis of this inhibitor is one of exclusion following a series of ambiguous mixing studies and variable factor assays. We studied ten patients with atypical laboratory results. Of particular significance are patients with a time-dependent enhancement of the lupus anticoagulant effect and patients with lupus anticoagulants that manifest a preferential inhibition of the prothrombin time rather than the activated partial thromboplastin time. We also confirmed the sensitivity of the platelet neutralization procedure in the identification of the lupus anticoagulant.     

The laboratory diagnosis of lupus anticoagulants

With the well-documented association of lupus anticoagulants with thrombotic disease and recurrent spontaneous abortion, the laboratory approach to diagnosing these inhibitors is more critical now. To this end, we examined plasma samples from 21 patients who initially presented with a prolonged prothrombin time or activated partial thromboplastin time or both for the presence of lupus anticoagulants. We used a battery of coagulation tests, including both immediate and two-hour mixing studies, a platelet neutralization procedure, a tissue thromboplastin inhibition test, and dilute Russell viper venom times. Two patients (10%) had only a prolonged prothrombin time, seven (33%) had only a prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time, and in 12 (57%) both were abnormal. In 15 patients, inhibition was evident on immediate assay of equal-volume mixture studies of patient plasma and normal pooled plasma, but in three additional patients it was evident only after a two-hour incubation. Fifteen of 18 samples showed correction of the abnormal screening study when platelets were used as a source of phospholipid. Both the tissue thromboplastin inhibition test and dilute Russell viper venom times were sensitive assays, being abnormal in 20 of 21 and 13 of 14 samples, respectively. In four patients, discordance of studies necessitated specific coagulation factor levels being measured to confirm the presence of the inhibitor. Because of the variable effect of the inhibitors on all currently available assay procedures, we would suggest that any evaluation will require a laboratory to have a battery of tests available before such an inhibitor can be excluded.