In:
Annals of Pharmacotherapy, SAGE Publications, Vol. 30, No. 12 ( 1996-12), p. 1390-1395
Abstract:
To assess the extent of incorporation of international normalized ratio (INR) reporting in US academic hospitals. DESIGN: Survey of academic hospital clinical laboratories in January 1995. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-eight academic hospital clinical laboratories at institutions that are members of the University HealthSystem Consortium. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The methods for monitoring oral anticoagulant therapy at the surveyed laboratories were determined. The extent of reporting of prothrombin time (PT), PT ratio, INR, and INR therapeutic range was determined. RESULTS: All 58 of the responding hospital clinical laboratories reported INR in patients receiving oral anticoagulation. The median length of time that hospitals had been reporting INR was 24 months (range 3–108). A majority of hospitals continued to report PT values (95%) and PT reference ranges (93%) in addition to INR. Therapeutic INR ranges were reported by only 25 of the laboratories (43%). Of those that report INR ranges, many follow the published recommendations by the American College of Chest Physicians and the Food and Drug Administration. A majority of the hospitals (79%) do not confirm the accuracy of the international sensitivity index (ISI) for their own analyzers. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to previous reports, academic hospital clinical laboratories have now adopted the more accurate system of reporting INR values in addition to PT values in patients receiving oral anticoagulation. However, better reporting of INR ranges, use of more sensitive thromboplastins, and confirmation of the accuracy of the ISI for local analyses would further improve the monitoring of oral anticoagulation.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1060-0280
,
1542-6270
DOI:
10.1177/106002809603001205
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
1996
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2053518-1
SSG:
15,3
Permalink