Lab Tests for Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia

肝素会导致1 - 3%的患者出现血小板减少症，其中约一半会导致血栓形成。有几个实验室测试来诊断这个问题，但没有一个是完美的，有些是非常劳动密集型的。最近发表了一种新的测定方法，该方法提供了高灵敏度和特异性的承诺，但劳动力相对较少。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名患者正在累积实际患有HIT的临床概率谱。其他患者正在临床中心累积。来自这些患者的样本将用新的HIT实验室检测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.