Search

Objective: To validate the association of thrombotic events with positive lupus anticoagulant (LA) and co-presence of anti-RNP/Sm, as well as the diagnostic accuracy of this combination of antibodies for thrombosis.Methods: Case-control study of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who presented thrombosis after SLE diagnosis and controls with SLE without thrombosis. Comorbidities, traditional risk factors, clinical variables, and treatment were evaluated. Antiphospholipid (aPL) and anti-RNP/Sm antibodies were determined.Results: Sixty-three cases and 63 controls were studied, 88% women, median age of 40 years, and disease duration of 135 months at study inclusion. No differences were found between groups regarding age, comorbidities, or clinical characteristics at SLE diagnosis. Patients with thrombosis were more frequently positive for anti-RNP/Sm (p = 0.001), IgG aCL (p = 0.02), IgG anti-B2GPI (p = 0.02), IgM anti-B2GPI (p = 0.02), LA (p < 0.001), the combination of anti-RNP/Sm + LA (p < 0.001), and aPL triple marker (p = 0.002), compared to controls. The combination of anti-RNP/Sm + LA, SLEDAI-2 K, and prednisone dose was associated with thrombosis (p < 0.05). The combination of anti-RNP/Sm + LA showed 56% sensitivity, 79% specificity, 73% positive predictive value, 64% negative predictive value, positive likelihood ratio (LR) 2.69, and negative LR 0.56 for predicting thrombosis. No difference was found in the comparison of area under the curve between LA alone and the combination of anti-RNP/Sm + LA (p = 0.73).Conclusion: Thrombosis was associated with disease activity, dose of prednisone, and the combination of anti-RNP/Sm antibodies and LA. This combination of antibodies could be useful in the identification of SLE patients at risk of thrombosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemophilia is a genetic disease in which the clinical manifestation is mainly the presence of hemorrhage. There are two known types of hemophilia: hemophilia A and B, which have a deficiency of factor VIII or IX clotting, respectively. The intensity of bleeding in hemophilia depends on the plasma levels of factor VIII or IX and has traditionally been classified as mild (> 5 % activity), moderate (1-5 % activity) and severe (< 1 % activity). In laboratory tests, isolated prolongation of activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) can be found, but it is necessary to determine the plasma levels of factor VIII or IX to establish the diagnosis of hemophilia A or B. The treating of this disease involves replacing exogenous factor VIII or IX concentrates. Gene therapy could be an option in the future to achieve the cure of the disease. Complications of hemophilia are the risk of transfusion-associated infections, pseudotumor hemophilic, hemophilic arthropathy and the presence of serum inhibitors.

Individuals with cancer are at increased risk of developing thrombosis. The prevalence of thrombosis depends on tumor-related factors such as histological type, stage, the use of central venous catheters, or treatment with surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy, as well as general prothrombotic factors including advanced age, immobility, obesity, hereditary thrombophilias and comorbidities. Prophylactic or therapeutic treatment of thrombosis should be individualized and will depend on both the risk of thrombosis and bleeding. In this review we intend to update concepts that have changed substantially such as green food-free diet, or the indication of absolute bed rest in patients with recent thrombosis. We propose evidence-based therapeutic strategies regarding the most prevalent clinical problems encountered in patients with cancer and thrombosis.

Background: in Mexico published casuistry concerning hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is limited., Objective: to describe the therapeutic response and survival of patients with HCL attended in a third level public institution., Methods: patient's data with HCL diagnosis registered between January 1989 - December 2009 were analyzed., Results: twenty three patients fulfilled HCL diagnosis criteria. Median age was 44 years (range 23-75 years) and median follow-up of the cohort was 1,877 days (range 1-8,462 days). First line treatment varied along time finding complete response (CR) and partial response (PR) rates of 77.3 and 18.2%, respectively. Of all therapeutic modalities employed cladribine induced the highest response rate. Survival at 1,877 days was 82.6%. At last follow-up 65.2% of patients remain alive, 13 in CR and 2 in PR; 4 died (CR = 2, PR = 1, active disease = 1) and 4 were lost during follow-up., Conclusion: this study which included more patients than previous single-institution Mexican series confirm the chronic clinical behavior of HCL and that purine analogs are corner stone in the treatment of patients suffering HCL.

Identify which patients are going to bleed during a surgery or invasive procedure is desirable. The coagulation tests as the prothrombin time (PT), the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), bleeding time (BT) and platelet count are routinely made with this purpose in the preoperative evaluation. But, really these laboratory tests can predict what patients are going to bleed? The answer with the current knowledge is: No. The most efficient method for prediction of bleeding is the clinical history, but still, most surgical bleeding are not by coagulopathy, they are caused by factors related to surgical technique, and therefore are not susceptible to be predicted. This article describes the recommendations for the assessment of bleeding risk prior to surgery or invasive procedures and discusses the value of preoperative coagulation tests.

To date, the most widely used drugs in our anticoagulation clinics are acenocoumarin and warfarin, which belong to the category of vitamin K antagonists (VKA). They have about 70 years of use in the clinic, with proven efficacy for various thrombotic diseases, but also with known problems of variability and dietary and drug interactions. In hospital thromboprophylaxis, the most widely used anticoagulant is enoxaparin, a low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). A new generation of anticoagulants are available, the direct thrombin inhibitors (dabigatran) and factor Xa inhibitors (rivaroxaban and apixaban), with obvious advantages over conventional anticoagulants. This paper summarizes what has been published to date for these new antithrombotics.