Diagnostics

Question 1

TEG

Answer 1

R- reaction time, time of onset to fibrin formation
K-rate of fibrin formation
alpha- rate of fibrin formation
MA- strength of clot
Lys30 and Lys60- percentage of the fibrin clot that has lysed at 30 and 60 minutes

Question 2

ROTEM

Answer 2

CT- clot time
CFT- clot formation time
MCF- maximum clot firmness

Question 3

Hypercoagulable

Answer 3

Time until onset of fibrin formation- short R/CT
Rate of fibrin formation- short K, high alpha/ short CFT
Strength of fibrin clot- high MA/ MCF

Question 4

Hypocoagulable

Answer 4

Time until onset of fibrin formation- long R/CT
Rate of fibrin formation- long K, low alpha/ long CFT
Strength of fibrin clot- low MA/MCF

Question 5

How does hct affect TEG results?

Answer 5

Lower hematocrits lead to hypercoagulable tracings with higher hematocrits causing the opposite trend. This is thought to be an artifact of the change in red blood cell number versus reflecting a real change in vivo. This severely impacts the use of this test to diagnose hyper- and hypercoagulable disorders in anemic or polycythemic patients.