Clinical Information

Patient plasma, normal pooled plasma (NPP), and a mixture of patient plasma and NPP are each tested for a specific factor, incubated at 37° C for 1 hour, and then retested for the same factor. In addition, a new mixture of patient plasma and NPP is prepared using the incubated plasmas and tested after the 1 hour incubation. The percentage of the recovered factor for each individual plasma and mixture being tested is calculated and compared. The procedure demonstrates the effect of a specific coagulation factor inhibitor on that factor present in normal pooled plasma, over a specific period of time.

An inhibitor directed against a coagulation factor may arise due to multiple exposures from transfusions in a patient deficient in that factor (as in the case of hemophiliacs), in response to certain disease states, or be drug-induced. Non-specific inhibitors may also be present in patients that will prolong screening tests (eg, prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time). This test is used to qualitatively identify an inhibitor to a specific coagulation factor.