Anticoagulants Flashcards
(109 cards)
Extracted from porcine (PIG) intestine (the majority) or bovine (COW) lungs where heparin is stored in
mast cells
**Anticoagulant effects are produced by binding to
anti-thrombin (AT)
[previously known as anti-thrombin III].
AT is a circulating
serine protease
**Heparin binds to AT enhancing the rate of thrombin-AT complex formation by
1,000 to 10,000 times
**Factors that are inhibited by AT:
Xa, IX, XI, XII
anticoagulation depends on the presence of adequate amounts of circulating
AT
Heparin potency is based on in vitro comparison with a
known standard
a unit of heparin is defined as the vol of heparin-containing solution that will prevent 1ml of….
- 1ml of citrated sheeps blood
- from clotting for 1 hour
- after the addition of 0.2ml of 1:100 calcium chloride
Heaprin 1ml with 0.2ml caCl (1:100) will not clot in citrated sheep blood for:
1 hour
In the US, heparin must contain at least 120 (USP) units per milliliter. this equates to
120units/mL
**Precise pathway of heparin elimination is
uncertain
the influence of renal and hepatic dx on heparin is
less than other anticoagulants
Heparin is used for multiple purposes:
- Prevention and tx of venous thrombosis
- Prevention and tx of pulmonary embolism
- Acute coronary syndromes
- Perioperative anticoagulation for extracorporeal circulation and hemodialysis (bypass)
Onset of action for heparin is
immediate
Labs used to monitor heparin.
NORMAL ranges:
Established Therapeutic Levels:
WNL: aPTT: 30-35 seconds
Therapeutic: 45 - 87.5 seconds
aPTT is used to monitor heparin and maintain a ration of
1.5 to 2.5 times normal values for aPTT
Prolonged aPTT > 120 secs can be shortend by
omitting a dose.
-this is b/c heparin has a brief elim. half time
Generally low dose heparin may not require monitoring. This is because the doses and schedule are
well known
Some hospitals will monitor low dose heparin using an anti-Xa assay in place of aPTT because of the
potential variability of low dose and high dose regimens of heparin
ACT - Activated clotting time is used for higher heparin concentrations such as those used in
CABG
ACT is performed by mixing whole blood with an activating substance w/LARGE SURFACE such as (2)
“Activators”
- Celite
- Kaolin
activators
ACT acts on which pathway?
What Factor initiates activation of the clotting cascade?
activation through the classic INTRINSIC Pathway
Factor XII initiates activation of the clotting cascade
Activator (celite and kaolin) speeds up teh clotting time to normal values of aprox.
100-150 secs (1.5-2.5 mins)
depending on device used
*to measure the ACT and are based on detecting the onset of clot formation
ACT results between devices may be interchangeable? True/False
FALSE
results b/w devices may not be interchangeable