Laboratory studies in coagulation disorders.

It is important to go in a stepwise approach to diagnose spectrum of bleeding disorders, so that minimum tests are undertaken to make a definitive diagnosis and to avoid unnecessary tests and laboratory load. Depending on the abnormalities observed in the short screening, extended screening tests can be performed followed by specialized diagnostic tests. Bleeding time is prolonged in thrombocytopenia and platelet function disorders (PFD). If platelet count is normal, extended screening tests such as RVVT, PF3 availability and clot retraction can be performed. Russel viper venom directly activates FX, in presence of PF3, is an indicator of common pathway of coagulation. However, if there is deficiency of PF3 as obtained in PFD and APTT PT are normal, its prolongation indicates PFD. These can be tested invitro by performing RVVT with and without inosithin it is highly suggestive of underlying PFD. In such cases, diagnostic tests for PFD such as platelet aggregation with ADP, ADR, AA, Collagen and Ristocetin can be performed followed by electron microscopy if possible. Few of the interesting cases also have been discussed in the text.

Therapy-related acute promyelocytic leukemia after treatment of carcinoma breast--a case report.

We report a 43-year-old female, with acute promyelocytic leukemia occurring after 9 months of treatment for carcinoma breast. The diagnosis of APL was made on morphology, cytogenetics and molecular studies. In contrast to other published report of therapy related APL (tAPL) the present case presented early after the primary malignancy and underwent a rapid, downhill course.

Gel card in the diagnosis of autoimmune haemolytic anemia.

The diagnosis of autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) requires the establishment of haemolysis and demonstration of autoantibodies against red cells. Most laboratories use the conventional Coomb's test for the demonstration of the autoantibodies. However, in approximately 2-6% of the patients who present with the clinical and haematological features of AIHA, the direct agglutination test is negative on repeated testing. Attempts are therefore being made to identify a test which could be more sensitive than the conventional test, yet retaining the simplicity and cost effectiveness of the test. In the present study, the efficacy of the newly developed gel card test has been compared with the conventional Coomb's test for detection of autoantibodies in 50 cases clinically suspected to have haemolytic anemia. The gel card picked up the antibodies in all the cases detected to be positive by the conventional test. In addition, the gel card also picked up 5 tests which were negative by the conventional method. The sensitivity and specificity of the gel card Direct Coomb's test (DCT) as compared to the conventional tube test for DCT was found to be 100% and 95.1% respectively. The Indirect Coomb's test (ICT) was 100% sensitive and 92.5% specific. In view of the high sensitivity and specificity and the simplicity of the procedure, this test may be effectively used for diagnosis of AIHA.