To diagnose a cause, which steps should be taken if, when performing a thrombin time, the patient's average clotting time significantly exceeds the reference range?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Running the test using a 1:1 mixture of patient's plasma and normal plasma helps to determine if the clotting factor deficiency is due to a factor in the patient's plasma or if it is due to a inhibitor in the patient's plasma that is blocking clotting factors. If there is no improvement in the clotting time with the 1:1 mixture, then it is likely that the patient has a clotting factor deficiency. Running the test using a 1:5 mixture of patient's plasma and normal plasma may dilute the clotting factors too much and could potentially cause an incorrect result. Resulting the first clotting time would not provide additional information.

To Diagnose a Cause, Which Steps Should Be Taken If