Authors: L. A. Sternberger,
Publish Date: 1952/12/20
Volume: 150, Issue:16, Pages: 1591-1593
Abstract
The laboratory diagnosis of thrombosis has been difficult because of the absence in circulating blood of the two essential products of coagulation, thrombin and fibrin. The fibrin is fixed at a local site, while the excess of thrombin formed becomes inactivated immediately by antithrombic substances. Recently a method for recovering such inactivated thrombin has been developed,1 and elevated values have been demonstrated in thrombosis produced experimentally in rabbits. The method has now been applied to patients, and the present paper reports on these clinical observations.METHODSĀ The recovery of thrombin is accomplished by dissociating the thrombin-antithrombin complex with alkali slightly above freezing temperature and by preventing its reassociation upon neutralization through the addition of ethyl alcohol to a final concentration of 25%. Nine milliliters of venous blood are obtained with siliconized syringes2 containing 1.0 ml. of 4% sodium citrate solution. Siliconized needles (19 gauge) are used. The plasma
Keywords: