Thrombosis research
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Thrombosis research · May 1994
Comparative StudyAssessment of hypercoagulability in patients with cancer using the Sonoclot Analyzer and thromboelastography.
Patients with cancer have an increased incidence of thrombosis and abnormal haemostasis detectable by sophisticated laboratory tests. Whether abnormalities in such highly sensitive assays is clinically relevant to bleeding or thrombosis is not clear. The thromboelastograph (TEG) and Sonoclot analyzers assess the coagulation process in whole blood and may therefore be physiologically more relevant than assays of isolated haemostatic components. ⋯ There were no significant coagulation changes in patients with benign colon or breast disease. In conclusion, hypercoagulability was detected in a high proportion of breast and colorectal cancer patients by both techniques. The clot rates of the TEG and Sonoclot were significantly correlated but the latter was abnormal in a greater proportion of cancer patients.