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Editor-in-chief
Maria Stella Graziani

Deputy Director
Martina Zaninotto

Associate Editors
Ferruccio Ceriotti
Davide Giavarina
Bruna Lo Sasso
Giampaolo Merlini
Martina Montagnana
Andrea Mosca
Paola Pezzati
Rossella Tomaiuolo
Matteo Vidali

EIC Assistant
Francesco Busardò

International Advisory Board Khosrow Adeli Canada
Sergio Bernardini Italy
Marcello Ciaccio Italy
Eleftherios Diamandis Canada
Philippe Gillery France
Kjell Grankvist Sweden
Hans Jacobs The Netherlands
Eric Kilpatrick UK
Magdalena Krintus Poland
Giuseppe Lippi Italy
Mario Plebani Italy
Sverre Sandberg Norway
Ana-Maria Simundic Croatia
Tommaso Trenti Italy
Cas Weykamp The Netherlands
Maria Willrich USA
Paul Yip Canada


Publisher
Biomedia srl
Via L. Temolo 4, 20126 Milano

Responsible Editor
Giuseppe Agosta

Editorial Secretary
Chiara Riva
Biomedia srl
Via L. Temolo 4, 20126 Milano
Tel. 0245498282
email: biochimica.clinica@sibioc.it

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ISSN print: 0393 – 0564
ISSN digital: 0392- 7091



BC: Articoli scritti da P. Calzoni

Interpretazione degli esami relativi all’emostasi in corso di gravidanza
Interpretation of hemostasis tests during physiological pregnancy
<p>Pregnancy is associated with significant modifications of the hemostatic system (endothelium, platelets, coagulation and fibrinolysis) resulting in a prothrombotic state. This is mainly due to an increase in the activity of some procoagulant factors and to the decrease of some physiological inhibitors. The plasma concentrations of these hemostatic system components therefore show important modifications during the three trimesters of pregnancy; as a consequence, the clinical laboratory should report specific reference intervals for the three trimesters of pregnancy or at least add a comment to the laboratory report. The screening tests (although very differently) are also influenced by this hypercoagulability condition and therefore also for PT, APTT, fibrinogen, antithrombin and D-dimer, different reference intervals for the three trimesters of pregnancy should be considered. Global tests have been used (viscoelastometric techniques and thrombin generation test) for monitoring the hemostatic imbalance that occurs during pregnancy; these techniques are very promising but, except for the use of viscoelastometry in monitoring post-partum hemorrhagic risk, they are still far from clinical practice.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 46(3) S055-S068
Rassegne - Reviews
 
Alterazioni dei meccanismi dell’emostasi in corso di infezione da SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)
Alterations of hemostasis during SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19)
<p>The corona virus infection (named COVID-19), first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, has contributed to significant mortality in several countries with the number of infected cases increasing exponentially worldwide, in particular in Italy and in the USA. The majority of the most severely ill patients initially presents with single organ failure (i.e. severe respiratory syndrome), but some of them progress to more systemic disease and multiple organ failure (MOF). One of the most significant poor prognostic features in these patients is the development of coagulopathy, similarly to patients who develop sepsis from various infectious agents. Coagulopathy in patients with COVID-19 may be asymptomatic but, in some cases, the septic state may evolve into Sepsis-Induced Coagulopathy (SIC) and overt Disseminated Intravascular Coagulopathy (DIC). In patients with severe clinical manifestations, a cytokine storm occurs that contributes to triggering a greater imbalance of the hemostatic mechanisms by promoting the development of microthrombosis at the level of the pulmonary endothelium. The effectiveness of anticoagulant therapies, performed primarily with low-molecular weight heparin, is greater the earlier the diagnosis is made. This is possible through the adoption of diagnostic protocols that include laboratory tests and clinical scores. The laboratory tests suggested for this purpose by the available Guidelines are prothrombin time, platelet count, D-dimer and fibrinogen. D-dimer appears to be the parameter with the greatest prognostic significance since it also allows a stratification of the thrombotic risk.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 44(4) 015-016
COVID-19 - COVID-19
 
Ruolo del laboratorio nella valutazione di un donatore di organi con sospetta emofilia A
Role of the laboratory in the evaluation of an organ donor with reported haemophilia A
<p>The case concerns a 82-year-old patient, organ donor, affected by diabetes mellitus, hypertension and reported type A haemophilia, showing a traumatic severe cerebral haemorrhage. The Medical Committee started the donor evaluation process: the liver was compatible for a recipient in life-threatening conditions. Although the first level coagulation tests were within the normal range, the Regional Center for Organ and Tissue Allocation of the Tuscany Region - Italy requested further investigations in order to clarify the reported diagnosis of haemophilia and to exclude the presence of a specific FVIII inhibitor. FVII activity was evaluated to assess the protein synthesis of the liver, and FVIII for suspected haemophilia; both of them were normal. Considering the importance of the diagnosis, the parallelisms of both FVII and FVIII were performed; the tests were negative for the presence of inhibitors. Second-level tests therefore rejected the diagnosis of haemophilia and excluded the presence of a specific inhibitor of FVIII. The absence of coagulative alterations allowed the liver explant, which was successfully transplanted on a 59-year-old male recipient.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 42(3) e37-e39
Casi clinici - Case report
 
Management of an elderly male patient with subconjunctival bleeding associated with pemphigus in the emergency department
<p>A 82-year-old man suffering from pemphigus and Parkinson&rsquo;s disease presented at the emergency department of the Misericordia Hospital in Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy) with subconjunctival bleeding. Laboratory blood tests showed a prolonged activated thromboplastin time (aPTT), with normal prothrombin time (PT) and slightly reduced haemoglobin. The negative family and personal history of haemorrhagic disease rose the suspicion of the presence of an acquired inhibitor. The patient was referred for further diagnostics to the University Hospital of Siena where second level tests were performed at the Coagulation Unit. The aPTT mixture test revealed a non-correction both at room temperature and, more markedly, after incubation at 37&deg;C for 2h, confirming the presence of an intrinsic pathway inhibitor. Among the measured factors, only the activity level of factor VIII was extremely low. The titration of FVIII inhibitor confirmed the diagnosis of Acquired Haemophilia A (AHA).&nbsp;</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 17(1)
Casi Clinici - Case Report