BackgroundThe mechanisms responsible for the increased thrombotic risk associated with thalassemia are still unclear. They might be related to the effects of red blood cell or endothelial cell derangements, increased numbers of platelets as well as abnormal plasma coagulation. Design and MethodsTo evaluate the relative role played by cells and plasma we investigated 169 patients with thalassemia by means of thromboelastometry and thrombin generation tests. Thromboelastometry measures indices of the viscoelastic properties of whole blood after activation of coagulation and is characterized by the clotting time, which may be considered as a conventional coagulation time, clot formation time, defined as the time needed for the clot to reach a fixed firmness, and the maximum clot firmness, defined as the maximal amplitude of the tracing. ResultsAll the thromboelastometry parameters determined in whole blood (including shortened clotting time and clot formation time, and increased maximum clot firmness), were consistent with hypercoagulability, especially in splenectomized patients. Conversely, thrombin generation as determined in platelet-poor plasma was not. ConclusionsThese findings point to blood cells and/or platelets rather than to plasma abnormalities as the most important determinants of the thrombotic risk observed in thalassemic patients who had been splenectomized. These results might have important diagnostic and therapeutic implications.
In spite of their recognized risk of thrombosis, patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) show little or no abnormalities of traditional coagulation tests, perhaps because these are unable to represent the balance between pro- and anticoagulants nor the effect of platelets and blood cells. We investigated whether global tests such as thrombin generation in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or thromboelastometry in whole blood were able to detect signs of procoagulant imbalance in MPN. The endogenous thrombin potential (ETP) of 111 patients and 89 controls was measured in PRP with platelet count adjusted to the original patient- or control-count. Testing was performed with and without thrombomodulin (the physiological protein C activator) and results were expressed as ETP ratios (with/without thrombomodulin). High ETP ratios reflect resistance to thrombomodulin and were taken as indexes of procoagulant imbalance. Patients were also investigated by thromboelastometry that provides such parameters as the clot formation time (CFT) and maximal clot firmness (MCF). Short CFT or high MCF were taken as indexes of procoagulant imbalance. ETP ratios were higher in patients than in controls and were directly correlated with platelet counts and inversely with the plasma levels of free protein S, protein C and antithrombin. Patients on hydroxyurea had lower ETP ratios than those on other treatments. CFT was shorter and MCF was greater in patients than controls; CFT and MCF were correlated with platelet counts. In conclusion, patients with MPN display a procoagulant imbalance detectable by thrombin generation and thromboelastometry. These tests might be useful in the frame of clinical trials to assess their association with the occurrence of thrombosis and with the effect of therapeutic strategies in MPN.
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