C-reactive protein and D-dimer in cerebral vein thrombosis: Relation to clinical and imaging characteristics as well as outcomes in a French cohort study.

Introduction: Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a rare disease with highly variable clinical presentation and outcomes. Clinical studies suggest a role of inflammation and coagulation in CVST outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of inflammation and hypercoagulability biomarkers with CVST clinical manifestations and prognosis. Methods: This prospective multicenter study was conducted from July 2011 to September 2016. Consecutive patients referred to 21 French stroke units and who had a diagnosis of symptomatic CVST were included. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), D-dimer, and thrombin generation using calibrated automated thrombogram system were measured at different time points until 1 month after anticoagulant therapy discontinuation. Results: Two hundred thirty-one patients were included. Eight patients died, of whom 5 during hospitalization. The day 0 hs-CRP levels, NLR, and D-dimer were higher in patients with initial consciousness disturbance than in those without (hs-CRP: 10.2 mg/L [3.6-25.5] vs 23.7 mg/L [4.8-60.0], respectively; NLR: 3.51 [2.15-5.88] vs 4.78 [3.10-9.59], respectively; D-dimer: 950 µg/L [520-2075] vs 1220 µg/L [950-2445], respectively). Patients with ischemic parenchymal lesions (n = 31) had a higher endogenous thrombin potential5pM than those with hemorrhagic parenchymal lesions (n = 31): 2025 nM min (1646-2441) vs 1629 nM min (1371-2090), respectively (P = .0082). Using unadjusted logistic regression with values >75th percentile, day 0 hs-CRP levels of >29.7 mg/L (odds ratio, 10.76 [1.55-140.4]; P = .037) and day 5 D-dimer levels of >1060 mg/L (odds ratio, 14.63 [2.28-179.9]; P = .010) were associated with death occurrence. Conclusion: Two widely available biomarkers measured upon admission, especially hs-CRP, could help predict bad prognosis in CVST in addition to patient characteristics. These results need to be validated in other cohorts.

Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: Clinical, Radiological, Biological, and Etiological Characteristics of a French Prospective Cohort (FPCCVT)-Comparison With ISCVT Cohort.

Introduction: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a rare disease with highly variable clinical presentation and outcome. Etiological assessment may be negative. The clinical and radiological presentation and evolution can be highly variable. The mechanisms involved in this variability remain unknown. Objective: The aim of this multicenter French study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02013635) was therefore to prospectively recruit a cohort of patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (FPCCVT) in order to study thrombin generation and clot degradation, and to evaluate their influence on clinical radiological characteristics. The first part of the study was to compare our cohort with a reference cohort. Methods: This prospective, multicenter, French study was conducted from July 2011 to September 2016. Consecutive patients (aged >15 years) referred to the stroke units of 21 French centers and who had a diagnosis of symptomatic CVT were included. All patients gave their written informed consent. The diagnosis of CVT had to be confirmed by imaging. Clinical, radiological, biological, and etiological characteristics were recorded at baseline, at acute phase, at 3 months and at last follow-up visit. Thrombophilia screening and the choice of treatment were performed by the attending physician. All data were compared with data from the International Study on CVT published by Ferro et al. Results: Two hundred thirty-one patients were included: 117 (50.6%) had isolated intracranial hypertension, 96 (41.5%) had focal syndrome. During hospitalization, 229 (99.1%) patients received anticoagulant treatment. Median length of hospital stay was 10 days. Five patients died during hospitalization (2.2%). At 3 months, 216 patients (97.0%) had follow-up with neurological data based on an outpatient visit. The mean duration of antithrombotic treatment was 9 months, and the mean time to last follow-up was 10.5 months. At the end of follow-up, eight patients had died, and 26 patients were lost to follow-up. At least one risk factor was identified in 200 patients. Conclusions: We demonstrated that the FPCCVT cohort had radiological, biological, and etiological characteristics similar to the historical ISCVT cohort. Nevertheless, the initial clinical presentation was less severe in our study probably due to an improvement in diagnostic methods between the two studies.

Point of Care Tests VerifyNow P2Y12 and INNOVANCE PFA P2Y Compared to Light Transmittance Aggregometry After Fibrinolysis.

Detection of high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HPR) by point-of-care tests has not been validated after successful fibrinolysis for ST-elevation myocardial infarction. We assessed the validity of the point-of-care VerifyNow P2Y12 (VN) and INNOVANCE PFA P2Y (PFA) tests on HPR compared to light transmittance aggregometry (LTA) in these patients. The HPR was identified in 10 (34.5%) patients, 15 (51.7%) patients, and 14 (50%) patients using LTA, VN, and PFA, respectively. Discrepancies were observed between the tests despite significant correlations between platelet reactivity measures by LTA and VN ( r = 0.74; P < .0001) and LTA and PFA ( r = .75; P < .0001). Compared to LTA, VN and PFA were associated with a 92% and 53% and 92% and 64% positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV), respectively, in detecting HPR. When combined, VN and PFA results yielded 90% and 100% PPV and NPV values if discrepancies between the 2 tests were considered as non-HPR. The VN or PFA identify patients without HPR correctly but overestimate the proportion of HPR patients. The association of the 2 tests, in case of HPR, improves the accuracy of the detection of HPR.

[Guidelines for certification of International Normalized Ratio (INR) for vitamin K antagonists monitoring according to the EN ISO 22870 standards]. / Recommandations pour l'accréditation de l'International normalized ratio (INR) pour la surveillance des traitements par antivitamine K en biologie délocalisée selon la norme EN ISO 22870.

Point of care testing (POCT) must comply with regulatory requirements according to standard EN ISO 22870, which identify biologists as responsible for POCT. INR for vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) monitoring is a test frequently performed in haemostasis laboratories. Bedside INR is useful in emergency room, in particular in case of VKAs overdosage but also for specific populations of patients like paediatrics or geriatrics. INR POCT devices are widely used at home by the patients for self-testing, but their use in the hospital by the clinical staff for bedside measurement is growing, with devices which now comply with standard for POCT accreditation for hospital use. The majority of point of care devices for INR monitoring has shown a good precision and accuracy with results similar to those obtained in laboratory. With the aim to help the multidisciplinary groups for POCT supervision, the medical departments and the biologists to be in accordance with the standard, we present the guidelines of the GFHT (Groupe français d'étude sur l'hémostase et la thrombose, subcommittee "CEC et biologie délocalisée") for the certification of POCT INR. These guidelines are based on the SFBC guidelines for the certification of POCT and on the analysis of the literature to ascertain the justification of clinical need and assess the analytical performance of main analysers used in France, as well as on a survey conducted with biologists.

[Guidelines for certification of Activated clotting time (ACT) according to the EN ISO 22870 standards]. / Recommandations pour l'accréditation de l'Activated clotting time (ACT) pour la surveillance de l'anticoagulation par l'héparine non fractionnée selon la norme EN ISO 22870.

Point of care testing (POCT) must comply with regulatory requirements according to standard EN ISO 22870, which identify biologists as responsible for POCT. Activated clotting time (ACT) is mandatory to monitor on whole blood, anticoagulation achieved by unfractionated heparin during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) or cardiac catheterization. This test has no equivalent in the laboratory. With the aim to help the multidisciplinary groups for POCT supervision when they have to analyse the wish of medical departments to use ACT and to help the biologists to be in accordance with the standard, we present the guidelines of the GEHT (Groupe d'étude d'hémostase et thrombose) subcommittee "CEC et Biologie délocalisée" for the certification of ACT. These guidelines are based on the SFBC guidelines for the certification of POCT and on the analysis of the literature to ascertain the justification of clinical need and assess the analytical performance of main analyzers used in France, as well as on a survey conducted with French and Belgian biologists.

[Near-patient testing devices to monitor vitamin K antagonists]. / Mesure délocalisée de l'INR pour la surveillance des traitements par antivitamine K.

Monitoring of the anticoagulant effect with the International normalized ratio (INR) is essential for patients receiving vitamin K antagonists (VKAs). The majority of point of care (POC) devices for INR monitoring has shown a good precision and accuracy with results similar to those obtained in a laboratory. In many countries, INR POC devices are widely used at home by the patients for self-testing. Their use in the hospital by the clinical staff (doctor or nurses) for bedside measurement is also growing. The INR POC testing is performed using fully automated devices. Capillary blood samples are easy to obtain. In the emergency room, POC INR devices are commonly used. This improves the quality of care for patient with suspicion of VKAs overdosage. INR measurement using bedside monitors is also of great interest in care units for specific populations of patients like paediatrics or geriatrics. Moreover, bedside INR monitoring may be useful in anticoagulant clinics or when the care unit is far from a laboratory. Although the bedside INR monitors are easy to use, their implementation requires adequate training and intermittent re-evaluation of any person performing the tests to ensure reliability of results. Such equipment must comply with EN ISO 22870 standard for POC testing accreditation, under the supervision of a biologist. In order to achieve these targets, connect the instrument to the laboratory's data management system is essential.

Search for an association between V249I and T280M CX3CR1 genetic polymorphisms, endothelial injury and preeclampsia: the ECLAXIR study.

BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia and coronary-artery disease share risk factors, suggesting common pathophysiological mechanisms. CX3CR1/CX3CL1 mediates leukocyte migration and adhesion and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of several inflammatory diseases. M280/I249 variants of CX3CR1 are associated with an atheroprotective effect and reduced endothelial dysfunction. The aim of this study was to search for an association between V249I and T280M polymorphisms of CX3CR1, preeclampsia and endothelial dysfunction. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We explored these polymorphisms with real-time polymerase chain reaction in a case-control study (184 white women with preeclampsia and 184 matched normotensive pregnant women). Endothelial dysfunction biomarkers including von Willebrand factor, VCAM-1 and thrombomodulin, as well as the soluble form of CX3CL1 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The I249 and M280 alleles were associated neither with preeclampsia, nor with its more severe form or with endothelial injury. In contrast, we found a trend toward increased CX3CL1 levels in preeclampsia patients, especially in early-onset- preeclampsia as compared to its level in later-onset- preeclampsia. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first study to characterize the CX3CR1 gene polymorphisms in patients with preeclampsia. We found no differences in genotype or haplotype frequencies between patients with PE and normal pregnancies, suggesting that maternal CX3CR1 V249I and T280M polymorphisms do not increase susceptibility to preeclampsia. Further studies should be performed to directly evaluate the pathophysiological role of CX3CL1, a molecule abundantly expressed in endometrium, which has been shown to stimulate human trophoblast migration.

A novel Asp344Val substitution in the fibrinogen gamma chain (fibrinogen Caen) causes dysfibrinogenemia associated with thrombosis.

A 5-year-old boy was hospitalized for acute appendicitis. Routine preoperative hemostasis screening resulted in a diagnosis of dysfibrinogenemia. Fifteen days after the operation the patient was re-hospitalized for deep vein thrombosis. Genetic analysis of the fibrinogen genes revealed a novel missense mutation in exon 8 of fibrinogen gamma-chain gene (FGG): c.1031A>T, p.Asp344Val (p.Asp318Val in the mature chain) in heterozygosity. Interestingly, this same residue in the fibrinogen gamma chain was previously found to be mutated to a glycine (fibrinogen Giessen IV) in another young dysfibrinogenemia patient with thrombosis. The side chain of Asp344 (or Asp318) in the gamma chain is directly involved in binding to calcium. Abnormal polymerization of fibrin in fibrinogen Giessen IV and in the novel fibrinogen Caen described here could lead to the formation of abnormal clots leading to thrombosis, in addition to abnormal thrombin binding and decreased fibrinolysis.

[Venous thromboembolism in pregnancy]. / Maladie veineuse thromboembolique de la grossesse.

Venous thromboembolism has been reported to occur in 1 in 1,000 pregnancies, but is a leading cause of maternal mortality. The challenge is to identify women with risk factors for thromboembolism in pregnancy in order to initiate an appropriate treatment. The objective diagnosis of venous thromboembolism in pregnancy is crucial and have implications not only for management of the pregnancy but also for the choice of contraception and management of future pregnancies. Women with prior venous thrombosis, family history of thrombosis, or additional thrombophilic risks factors have to be evaluated in order to choice the best thromboprophylaxis for pregnancy and puerperium. However recommendations are of low grade (C) and in absence of large prospective studies, the therapeutic strategies are often empiric.