1994 Volume 23 Issue 5 Pages 1102-1108
Plasma Xa activated coagulation time (PXCT) method was developed for the monitoring of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) during hemodialysis (HD). PXCT increased linearly with the increase of LMWH concentration (0-0.8 IU/ml). The fact that PXCT increased more significantly with heparin than LMWH and also was increased by a synthetic thrombin inhibitor, indicated that PXCT was affected not only by anti-Xa activities but also by anti-thrombin activities. HD was conducted using bolus and continuous administration of LMWH. The PXCT and APTT were measured together with the whole blood Xa activated coagulation time (XCT), which is currently said to be useful for monitoring LMWH. In both methods of administration, the response of APTT was too low, therefore it was determined to be unsuitable for these purposes. However, a parallel increase of PXCT and XCT, suggested that these two parameters reflected the effects of LMWH. It was thus concluded that PXCT would be a useful monitoring method of LMWH. The added advantages of its using plasma samples would be ease of sample storage and large number of sample handling.
