Membrane vs bubble oxygenator: clinical comparison. (73/1307)

Numerous studies have demonstrated the superiority of membrane oxygenators (MO) over the bubble oxygenators (BO) when used for prolonged cardiopulmonary support. However, there is little information available evaluating the MO for routine, short-term cardiopulmonary bypass. In this study the 5MO314 Modulung-Teflo (MO) was compared to 5M30314 Miniprime Variflo (BO). The data of 91 patients (46 MO and 45 BO) were analyzed according to the duration of cardiopulmonary bypass (Group I less than 60 min., Group II 60-90 min. and Group III greater than 90 min.). Hemodynamic parameters, fluid and blood balance, as well as hematologic and blood gas studies were used for comparing the two oxygentors. The hemodynamic parameters were better, and the arterial blood gases were more physilogic with the MO. The postoperative blood loss was significantly less when using the MO. The other measurements documented the stability of the MO. All statements were based on statistical analysis with a DEC PDP-9 computer, using the MIIS language and operating system. Consequently, we are now using this MO for routine cardiopulmonary bypass.  (+info)

The role of high molecular weight kininogen and prothrombin as cofactors in the binding of factor XI A3 domain to the platelet surface. (74/1307)

We have reported that prothrombin (1 microm) is able to replace high molecular weight kininogen (45 nm) as a cofactor for the specific binding of factor XI to the platelet (Baglia, F. A., and Walsh, P. N. (1998) Biochemistry 37, 2271-2281). We have also determined that prothrombin fragment 2 binds to the Apple 1 domain of factor XI at or near the site where high molecular weight kininogen binds. A region of 31 amino acids derived from high molecular weight kininogen (HK31-mer) can also bind to factor XI (Tait, J. F., and Fujikawa, K. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 11651-11656). We therefore investigated the role of prothrombin fragment 2 and HK31-mer as cofactors in the binding of factor XI to activated platelets. Our experiments demonstrated that prothrombin fragment 2 (1 microm) or the HK31-mer (8 microm) are able to replace high molecular weight kininogen (45 nm) or prothrombin (1 microm) as cofactors for the binding of factor XI to the platelet. To localize the platelet binding site on factor XI, we used mutant full-length recombinant factor XI molecules in which the platelet binding site in the Apple 3 domain was altered by alanine scanning mutagenesis. The recombinant factor XI with alanine substitutions at positions Ser(248), Arg(250), Lys(255), Leu(257), Phe(260), or Gln(263) were defective in their ability to bind to activated platelets. Thus, the interaction of factor XI with platelets is mediated by the amino acid residues Ser(248), Arg(250), Lys(255), Leu(257), Phe(260), and Gln(263) within the Apple 3 domain.  (+info)

Factor V Leiden and antiphospholipid antibodies are significant risk factors for ischemic stroke in children. (75/1307)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The association between ischemic childhood stroke and thrombophilia has been debated. We studied the prevalence of thrombophilia risk factors in 65 unrelated children with ischemic stroke compared with 145 control subjects. METHODS: Patients and control subjects were tested for antithrombin protein C and protein S deficiencies, the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (APLA), factor V Leiden (FVL), G20210A polymorphism of factor II gene (FII G20210A), and C677T polymorphism of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene (C677T MTHFR). RESULTS: Of 65 children, 7 had a stroke in the neonatal/perinatal period and therefore were analyzed separately. Thirty-one of the remaining 58 patients with pediatric stroke (53.4%) were found to have at least 1 thrombophilia marker compared with only 25.5% of control subjects. None of the patients or control subjects had protein S or antithrombin III deficiency. The prevalence of protein C deficiency was higher among pediatric stroke patients than among control subjects, but the difference was not statistically significant (OR=7, 95% CI 0.75 to 65.1). Heterozygous FII G20210A and homozygous MTHFR 677T were not associated with an increased risk for stroke (OR=1.29, 95% CI 0.2 to 8.2; and OR=1.06, 95% CI 0.4 to 2.7, respectively). In contrast, the presence of APLA was associated with a >6-fold risk of stroke (OR=6. 08, 95% CI 1.5 to 24.3), and the heterozygosity for FVL increased the risk of stroke by almost 5-fold (OR=4.82, 95% CI 1.4 to 16.5). Five patients with pediatric stroke had a combination of > or =2 thrombophilia markers, whereas none of the control subjects had a combination of the markers. Most of the patients with neonatal/perinatal stroke were found to have at least 1 thrombophilia marker. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the prevalence of thrombophilia markers is increased in children with stroke compared with control subjects and, specifically, that FVL and APLA contribute significantly to stroke occurrence.  (+info)

Coagulation pathways and diabetic retinopathy: abnormal modulation in a selected group of insulin dependent diabetic patients. (76/1307)

AIMS: To investigate whether diabetic retinopathy (DR), already associated with microvascular alterations, ischaemia, and endothelial dysfunction, was also characterised by abnormal modulation of coagulation pathways. METHODS: Plasma samples, collected from 67 type 1 diabetics comparable for age, duration of disease (DD), and metabolic control (MC), were processed for prothrombin degradation products (F1+2) and factor VII coagulant activity (FVII:c). 50 normal subjects served as a control group. The ETDRS-Airlie House Classification of DR was used. RESULTS: A significant correlation between FVII:c and F1+2 plasma concentrations was observed (p <0.05). FVII:c (p <0.005) and F1+2 (p <0.0001) levels were higher in diabetics than in controls, especially in patients with proliferative DR (FVII:c p <0.0001; F1+2 p<0.005). However, cases without retinal lesions and healthy subjects did not differ significantly (FVII:c and F1+2 p >0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings pointed out the presence of a hypercoagulable state associated with endothelial dysfunction in patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), demonstrated both by increased FVII:c and F1+2 plasma levels. Moreover, the observation of different DR related degrees of procoagulant activity, despite comparable DD and MC, strengthens the hypothesis of multiple risk factors in the pathogenesis of DR.  (+info)

Anti-beta2-glycoprotein I (GPI) autoantibodies, annexin V binding and the anti-phospholipid syndrome. (77/1307)

We examined the role of autoantibodies to beta2-GPI and prothrombin (PT) in the inhibition of annexin V binding to cardiolipin (CL) and the association with clinical manifestations of the anti-phospholipid syndrome (APS). Plasma samples from 59 patients with anti-phospholipid (aPL) antibodies were studied. Affinity purification of total IgG and IgG anti-ss2-GPI antibodies was performed using staphylococcal protein A and phospholipid liposomes. Annexin V binding to CL was significantly inhibited by 31/59 (53%) aPL+ plasma samples. There was a significant association between annexin V inhibition and elevated levels of IgG anti-cardiolipin (aCL) (r = -0.62; P < 0.001), IgG anti-ss2-GPI (r = -0.67; P < 0. 001) and a weaker association with lupus anti-coagulant (r = -0.27; P = 0.05). There was no association with other isotypes of aCL and anti-ss2-GPI or with anti-PT of any isotype. In patients with clinical manifestations of the APS there were higher levels of IgG aCL (median (range) Z score): 10.0 (0-17.6) versus 5.0 (0-16.1); P = 0.03), IgG anti-ss2-GPI (4.5 (0-11.3) versus 0.9 (0-9.7); P = 0.02) and greater inhibition of annexin V binding to CL (-3.4 (-11.4-0.6) versus -1.1 (-10.8-1.2); P = 0.22). Odds ratios for the laboratory assays and the presence of clinical manifestations of the APS varied between 0.38 and 4.16, with the highest values for IgG aCL (4.16), IgG anti-ss2-GPI (3.28) and annexin V inhibition (2.85). Additional experiments with affinity-purified IgG antibodies indicated that inhibition of annexin V binding was dependent upon the concentration of ss2-GPI and anti-ss2-GPI antibodies. These results indicate that inhibition of annexin V binding to procoagulant phospholipid surfaces is dependent upon anti-ss2-GPI antibodies and suggest a role for annexin V in the pathogenesis of the APS.  (+info)

Prevalence and clinical significance of antiprothrombin antibodies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus or with primary antiphospholipid syndrome. (78/1307)

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Antibodies to prothrombin (aII) have been identified in patients with antiphospholipid antibodies, but their clinical significance is not well known. The aim of our study was to investigate their prevalence and association with clinical manifestations of the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) in patients with primary APS or with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). DESIGN AND METHODS: A series of 177 patients with autoimmune diseases was studied: 70 with primary APS and 107 with systemic lupus erythematosus. A control group of 87 healthy volunteers were included in the study. aII were investigated in sera by an ELISA, using human prothrombin as antigen fixed in irradiated polystyrene plates. RESULTS: aII prevalence in patients with autoimmune disease was 47% (57% and 40% in patients with primary APS or with SLE, respectively) significantly higher than in controls (5%) (p<0.0001). In the whole series, thrombotic events were more prevalent in patients with aII (45% vs 28%; p=0.02). Moreover, aII was found to be an independent risk factor for arterial thrombosis (OR=2.4; p=0. 04). Similarly, in patients with SLE, aII were associated with both arterial and venous thrombosis (35% vs 14%; p=0.01), although only IgG-aII (OR=3.7; p=0.01) had an independent value as risk factor for thrombosis. However, a relationship between aII and thrombosis was not found in primary APS. aII were associated with thrombocytopenia only in patients with primary APS (OR=6.7; p=0.007). INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: aII seem to be a serological marker of thrombosis in autoimmune diseases, mainly in SLE patients and/or in the arterial territory.  (+info)

Haemostasis in patients with Behcet's disease. (79/1307)

AIM: to determine whether Behcet's disease affects haemostatic function. SETTING: University Hospital, Turkey. PATIENTS: one hundred and twenty-seven consecutive patients with Behcet's disease, 34 of whom with a history of vascular involvement. METHODS: prothrombin fragment 1+2 tissue plasminogen activator, protein S and C, antithrombin, fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor, thrombomodulin and prothrombin time (PT) were measured in patient plasma. RESULTS: soluble thrombomodulin was significantly lower and von Willebrand factor (vWF) and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) significantly higher in Behcet's patients. Patients with vascular involvement showed the highest levels of vWF and tPA. There was no activation of coagulation, not even in patients with an active disease at the time of sampling. CONCLUSION: there were indirect signs of endothelial activity or damage, particularly in patients with vascular involvement. Coagulation was not activated.  (+info)

The in vivo kinetics of tissue factor messenger RNA expression during human endotoxemia: relationship with activation of coagulation. (80/1307)

Triggering of the tissue factor (TF)-dependent coagulation pathway is considered to underlie the generation of a procoagulant state during endotoxemia. To determine the in vivo pattern of monocytic TF messenger RNA (mRNA) expression during endotoxemia, 10 healthy volunteers were injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 4 ng/kg) and blood was collected before and 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 24 hours after LPS administration. Total blood RNA was isolated and amplified by NASBA (nucleic acid sequence-based amplification), followed by quantitation of TF mRNA by an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) assay. To compare the pattern of coagulation activation with the kinetics of monocytic TF mRNA expression, we measured plasma levels of markers of thrombin generation, thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complexes, and prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 + 2). Baseline value (mean +/- SEM) of the number of TF mRNA molecules per monocytic cell was 0.08 +/- 0.02. A progressive and significant (P <.0001) increase in TF expression was observed after LPS injection (+0.5 hour: 0.3 +/- 0.1, +1 hour: 1.3 +/- 0.9, +2 hours: 4.1 +/- 0.9), peaking at +3 hours (10 +/- 1.9 TF mRNA molecules per monocyte). As TF mRNA levels increased, thrombin generation was augmented. Peak levels of TAT and F1 + 2 were reached later (at t +4 hours) than those of TF mRNA. TF mRNA, TAT, and F1 + 2 levels returned to baseline after 24 hours. In conclusion, we used a NASBA/ECL-based technique to quantify TF mRNA in whole blood during human endotoxemia and observed a 125-fold increase in TF mRNA levels. Our data demonstrate a pivotal role for enhanced TF gene activity in the activation of coagulation after LPS challenge. (Blood. 2000;96:554-559)  (+info)