American journal of clinical pathology
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Am. J. Clin. Pathol. · Jan 1981
Case ReportsProlonged defibrination syndrome after green pit viper bite with persisting venom activity in patient's blood.
Venom activity in citrated plasma from a patient with a green pit viper bite was demonstrated by measuring its ability to decrease fibrinogen levels in normal plasma for six days after the bite. By in-vitro study, the minimal amount of crude venom to induce hypofibrinogenemia was 0.5 microgram/ml of normal plasma. ⋯ The most beneficial therapy should therefore be the neutralization of venom by antivenin, for as long as abnormal coagulation profiles are present, to discontinue the defibrinating process. The preparation of potent antivenin must be encouraged.
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Am. J. Clin. Pathol. · Jun 1980
Case ReportsHemolytic anemia in hepatic disease with decreased erythrocyte adenosine triphosphate.
Erythrocyte adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was assessed in patients with hepatic disease who had developed hemolytic anemia. Erythrocyte ATP was decreased, and this finding documents another cause for hemolytic anemia in patients with hepatic disease. The decreased erythrocyte ATP is secondary to hypophosphatemia, which is a common biochemical abnormality associated with hepatic disease.
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Am. J. Clin. Pathol. · May 1980
Case ReportsHeparin anticoagulation during cardiopulmonary bypass in an antithrombin-III deficient patient. Implications relative to the etiology of heparin rebound.
A case of antithrombin-III (AT-III) deficiency was diagnosed on the basis of a diminished anticoagulant effect following the administration of heparin for cardiopulmonary bypass. The clinical evaluation and interpretation of a diminished response to heparin is discussed, as are considerations relative to the treatment of AT-III deficient persons whose disorder is not manifest until they are already anesthetized for cardiovascular bypass. The implications of AT-III deficiency relative to the mechanism of heparin rebound are also discussed.
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Am. J. Clin. Pathol. · Apr 1980
Evaluation of a pneumatic-tube system for delivery of blood specimens to the blood bank.
This study evaluated the suitability of delivering patient blood specimens to the blood bank by a hospital pneumatic-tube system. No significant discrepancies were found between duplicate pneumatic-tube and hand-carried specimens in ABO and Rh typing, Du and direct Coombs' testing, rouleaux formation, and antibody screening and identification. ⋯ Our pneumatic-tube system may be safely used to transport patient blood specimens for routine type and crossmatch. Slight hemolysis in some pneumatic-tube specimens makes our pneumatic-tube system unsuitable for transporting blood specimens collected for evaluation of transfusion reactions.