International journal of laboratory hematology
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Patients with COVID-19 frequently exhibit a hypercoagulable state with high thrombotic risk, particularly those admitted to intensive care units (ICU). Thromboprophylaxis is mandatory in these patients; nevertheless, thrombosis still occurs in many cases. Thus, the problem of assessing an adequate level of anticoagulation in ICU patients becomes evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to evaluate the heparin resistance and the efficacy of heparin monitoring using an anti-Xa activity assay. ⋯ SARS-COV2 pneumonia patients in ICU have frequently heparin resistance. Anti-Xa seems a more reliable method to monitor heparin treatment than APTT in acute patients, also because the assay is insensitive to the increased levels of fibrinogen, FVIII, and LAC that are common during the COVID-19 inflammatory state.
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Review
Laboratory testing for suspected COVID-19 vaccine-induced (immune) thrombotic thrombocytopenia.
COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) represents a pandemic, and several vaccines have been produced to prevent infection and/or severe sequelae associated with SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) infection. There have been several reports of infrequent post vaccine associated thrombotic events, in particular for adenovirus-based vaccines. These have variously been termed VIPIT (vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia), VITT (vaccine-induced [immune] thrombotic thrombocytopenia), VATT (vaccine-associated [immune] thrombotic thrombocytopenia), and TTS (thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome). ⋯ In suspected VITT, there is a generally highly elevated level of D-dimer, thrombocytopenia, and PF4 antibodies can be identified by ELISA-based assays, but not by other immunological assays typically positive in HITT. In addition, in some functional platelet activation assays, standard doses of heparin have been identified to inhibit activation in suspected VITT, but they tend to augment activation in HITT. Conversely, it is also important to not over-diagnose VITT, given that not all cases of thrombosis post vaccination will have an immune basis and not all PF4-ELISA positive patients will be VITT.
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There are many preanalytical variables (PAV) that are known to affect coagulation testing. The more commonly acknowledged PAV addressed by the clinical laboratory tend to start with their influence on blood collection, but realistically coagulation PAV starts with the patient, where the laboratory has less influence or control. ⋯ Laboratory oversight of sample transportation, processing and storage will assure sample integrity until testing can be facilitated. The purpose of this document is to review common PAV that should be taken into consideration when ordering, performing and interpreting a coagulation test result, with additional attention to the effect of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs).
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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound worldwide impact on the laboratory hematology community. Nevertheless, the pace of COVID-19 hematology-related research has continued to accelerate and has established the role of laboratory hematology data for many purposes including disease prognosis and outcome. The purpose of this scoping review was to assess the current state of COVID-19 laboratory hematology research. ⋯ Despite the major improvements in our understanding of the role of coagulation, automated hematology, and cell morphology in COVID-19, there are gaps in the literature, including biosafety and the laboratory role in screening and prevention of COVID-19. There is a gap in the publication of papers focused on guidelines for the laboratory. Our findings suggest that, despite the large number of publications related to laboratory data and their use in COVID-19 disease, many areas remain unexplored or under-reported.
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Monitoring of laboratory indicators is important for predicting changes in disease severity and clinical outcomes. We aimed to identify the critical predictors that can effectively assess the disease conditions of patients with COVID-19 by analyzing the clinical characteristics and laboratory findings of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. ⋯ Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is a critical predictor for assessment of disease severity in patients with COVID-19, and it has a close relation with the laboratory indicators related to disease conditions.