Lab Tests for Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia

肝素在1-3%的患者中会导致血小板减少，其中约一半会导致血栓形成。已经有几种实验室测试来诊断这个问题，但没有一种是完美的，有些是非常劳动密集型的。最近，一种新的检测方法已经发表，该方法具有较高的灵敏度和特异度，但相对省力。为了收集足够数量的患者样本来研究这种新的检测方法，我们与华盛顿医院中心的医生合作，在那里肝素诱导的血小板减少症(HIT)比这里更常见。40名患者正在积累临床上实际被击中的概率谱。临床中心正在积累其他患者。这些患者的样本将用新的HIT实验室检测方法以及我们目前认为最好的历史悠久但困难的检测方法进行检测。如果新的测试表现良好，我们将停止使用旧的方法。

Heparin causes thrombocytopenia in 1 - 3 per cent of patients and leads to thrombosis in about half of these. There have been several laboratory tests to diagnose this problem, but none of them is perfect and some are very labor intensive. Recently a new assay method has been published that offers the promise of high sensitivity and specificity but with relatively little labor. In order to collect a sufficient number of patient samples to study this new assay, we have collaborated with physicians at Washington Hospital Center, where heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is much more common than here. Forty patients are being accrued with a spectrum of clinical probability of actually having HIT. Other patients are being accrued at the Clinical Center. Samples from these patients will be tested with the new laboratory test for HIT as well as the time-honored but difficult assay that we currently consider the best. If the new test performs well, we will discontinue our older method.