Editorial
Today we are pleased to send you our digital Newsletter which aims to provide you with some important ECAT information and relevant articles in the fields of quality control and/ or laboratory diagnosis in thrombosis & haemostasis.
Enjoy reading.
Petra van Velp
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ECAT Information:
A The laboratory diagnosis of Lupus Anticoagulant remains a challenge for many laboratories. Which test(s) should be used? To mix or not to mix? How to interpret the different laboratory guidelines? Etc. Therefore we decided to organise a webinar on this topic. We are very grateful that prof. dr. Gary Moore is willing to contribute to this webinar. In addition we will explain also how to use the webform for result submission as well as how to interpret the survey reports.
This webinar can be followed free-of-charge, however registration is mandatory. For further details, please look at the ECAT website (www.ecat.nl).
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Manage contact details
We are pleased to inform you that from now on you can view, check and adjust your laboratory contact details on our website. There is also a new function available that allows you to enter a second email address for every contact type. With this new service we aim to keep our database up-to-date and make it easy for you to maintain your own contact details.
To get access to the option “Manage Contacs”, please log in at the participant area. After log in you can click on the button “manage contacts” (see screen shot below).
First, select the contact that you want to adjust using the dropdown menu. Please note that all contacts registered can/should be adjusted individually.
After adjusting the contact information please click on “save contact”
By clicking on save contact the changes will be sent to our database.
Please be aware that the address that is used by the samples contact is the delivery address. Therefore it is very important that this information is correct. To make sure that the address fits on the postal label each address line has a maximum of 35 characters therefore sometimes abbreviations are necessary.
If you have any questions regarding this new feauture please contact the ECAT office at info@ecat.nl.
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Comments in the Result Forms
In many of our web-based results forms for submission of your results on ECAT samples there is an option for including comments (see example below for antithrombin activity).
This comment box, as shown in the form, has a limited size. However, you are able to enter more text than visible. To enlarge the size of the comment box, place your cursor on the marker at the right lower corner and pull it down (see example below). In this way you can make the full text visible.
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From 2024 no printed reports anymore
It is our joined responsibility to take care of the environment. Therefore one of the things we pay attention to at ECAT is to reduce the amount of paper we use on an annual basis. For this reason we have decided not to provide printed survey reports anymore from 2024 onwards. All survey reports will be only electronically available in the Participant Area of our website.
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New in the ECAT EQA Programme 2024
In 2024 we will introduce the following changes in our external quality assessment programme.
FVIII/FIX Replacement products
Next to the already included FVIII products Kovaltry and Jivi (Bayer), we will further extend our programme in 2024 with the following FVIII products: Esperoct and NovoEight (Novo Nordisk) and the following FIX product: Refixia (Novo Nordisk). All FVIII and FIX Replacement Product surveys are part of the Haemophilia Programme.
Fibrin(ogen) Degradation Products (FDP)
The measurement of Fibrin(ogen) Degradation products (FDPs) is for instance used in the diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). After a successful pilot study in 2023 we will now introduce a regular EAQ programme for FDPs in 2024. This survey will run 4 times per year. Samples covering a wide concentration range of FDPs will be used.
You will find these new modules in the registration form 2024. If you are registered to our programme via one of our distributors and you don’t find these modules in the registration list, please contact your distributor. For those that have a direct registration at ECAT, the registration procedure 2024 will start early October.
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ECAT Information:
Fibrin(ogen) Degradation Products Pilot Study
In Spring 2023 a small pilot study was performed on testing for Fibrin(ogen) Degradation Products (FDP). The meaning of this pilot study was to investigate the feasibility of an external quality assessment survey for FDP. In total 14 laboratories took part in this pilot study, 9 of which have returned results. Read more.
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ECAT Information:
Guideline for Factor VIII and Factor IX Inhibitor-type testing
It is well known that the laboratory testing of Factor VIII (FVIII) and Factor IX (FIX) inhibitors is hampered by a large between-laboratory variability.
In the period 2015 – 2022 the between-laboratory variation for FVIII inhibitor was on average 30%. Although the between-laboratory variation for the FIX inhibitor is slightly lower (approx. 20%) than for the FVIII inhibitor, a considerable between-laboratory variation was still observed. Read more.
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Case Report:
Prekallikrein deficiency
A 34-year-old woman, G2P1, with a 14-week period of amenorrhea, presented to the gynaecologist with heavy vaginal bleeding. The patient had no history of other bleeding problems, was not taking any medication, and had never undergone surgery. The gynaecologist confirmed an intact pregnancy by ultrasound and found no evidence of other gynaecological sources of bleeding. After a short observation period of a few hours, no active bleeding was detected, but the patient was still concerned. Read more
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ECAT information:
Pilot study on Contact Activation Testing
The case report in this newsletter demonstrates the relevance of testing for contact activation parameters. In the future ECAT wants to introduce a programme for the contact activation parameters Prekallikrein (PK) and High-Molecular-Weight Kininogen (HMWK). Therefore we will perform a pilot study on these parameters in 2024. More details will be included in the Participants Information 2024. Registration for this pilot study is included in the subscription process 2024.
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Literature Highlights:
Recent publications
Below we list some interesting recent publications in the field of thrombosis and haemostasis, and laboratory diagnostics. Because of the enormous number of publications we have limited our reporting to just a small list of interesting publications. It is not our intention to provide you with a complete overview. We hope this list supports you in your awareness of interesting publications.
Laboratory testing
- Guy, S., M.F. Shepherd, A.E. Bowyer and S. Kitchen, How to assess parallelism in factor assays: coefficient of variation of results with different dilutions or slope ratio? Int J Lab Hematol, 2023; 45: 229-240.
- Bowyer AE, Maclean RM, Kitchen S. The combination of emicizumab and recombinant factor VIII in plasma: Which assays can we use for accurate measurement? International journal of laboratory hematology. 2023;45:368-76.
- Jennings I, Lester W, Gray E, Reilly-Stitt C, Gomez K, Williams S, et al. Effect of direct thrombin inhibitors on laboratory measurement of fibrinogen: Potential for errors in clinical decision-making. International journal of laboratory hematology. 2023;45:599-602.
Quality
- Gomez-Rioja R, Von Meyer A, Cornes M, Costelloe S, Vermeersch P, Simundic AM, et al. Recommendation for the design of stability studies on clinical specimens. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2023;61:1708-18.
- Habibzadeh F. On determining the sensitivity and specificity of a new diagnostic test through comparing its results against a non-gold-standard test. Biochemia medica. 2023;33:010101.
- Fenclova, T., F. Marecek and I. Hrachovinova, Effects of frozen storage conditions and freezing rate on the stability of coagulation proteins in human plasma. Blood Coagul Fibrinolysis, 2023; 34: 377-384.
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Upcoming Events
ECTH2023
13-15 Septmeber 2023, Valencia,
website
UIP 2023 - XXth World Congress of Phlebology
17-21 September 2023, Miami,
website
ESCCA 2023
27-3o September 2023, Utrecht,
website
26th congress of the ISFP&PA
11-14 October 2023, Budapest,
website
APSTH 2023
18-21 October 2023, Kucing,
website
For more events, please have a look into our Calendar.
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