Diagnosis of Antithrombin Deficiency

• Diagnosis of Antithrombin Deficiency

AUTHOR(S)

Peter COOPER

Coagulation Laboratory, Sheffield Haemophilia & Thrombosis Centre, Royal Hallamshire Hospital

SUMMARY

Venous thromboembolism is a common and potentially lethal disease. Thrombosis and associated pulmonary embolism has a worldwide annual incidence of around 1 in 1,000 individuals, and represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality, contributing towards more than 50,000 deaths each year in the United States. These authors showed that risk of recurrence at 12 months was 12.9%, and was 30.4%, ten years post first thrombosis. There is no internationally accepted definition for the term ‘ thrombophilia ’, but it is generally used to describe subjects with a predisposition to ( usually venous ) thrombosis. Thrombophilia may be an inherited or acquired condition － an inherited defect may be identified in approximately 25-30% of unselected patients with thromboembolic episode. In 1965, antithrombin deficiency was diagnosed as the first condition to cause inherited thrombosis, subsequently a wide variety of defects have been associated with heritable thrombophilia.

KEY WORDS

Antithrombin, Thrombosis, Method Comparison, Automated Coagulation Analyzer