A case of hemothorax due to traumatic bleeding managed effectively by Sonoclot®-guided blood transfusion

A 71-year-old woman was transported to our hospital due to traumatic bleeding, and an operation was immediately performed for achieving hemostasis. We decided to perform Sonoclot®-guided blood transfusion. When Sonoclot signatures had returned normal values, further bleeding did not occur. We experienced the first case of traumatic bleeding managed effectively by using Sonoclot. We suggest that a Sonoclot analyzer may be useful for the management of severe coagulopathy due to traumatic bleeding like ROTEM and TEG.

The simultaneous occurrence of both hypercoagulability and hypofibrinolysis in blood and serum during systemic inflammation, and the roles of iron and fibrin(ogen)

Although the two phenomena are usually studied separately, we summarise a considerable body of literature to the effect that a great many diseases involve (or are accompanied by) both an increased tendency for blood to clot (hypercoagulability) and the resistance of the clots so formed (hypofibrinolysis) to the typical, 'healthy' or physiological lysis. We concentrate here on the terminal stages of fibrin formation from fibrinogen, as catalysed by thrombin. Hypercoagulability goes hand in hand with inflammation, and is strongly influenced by the fibrinogen concentration (and vice versa); this can be mediated via interleukin-6. Poorly liganded iron is a significant feature of inflammatory diseases, and hypofibrinolysis may change as a result of changes in the structure and morphology of the clot, which may be mimicked in vitro, and may be caused in vivo, by the presence of unliganded iron interacting with fibrin(ogen) during clot formation. Many of these phenomena are probably caused by electrostatic changes in the iron-fibrinogen system, though hydroxyl radical (OH˙) formation can also contribute under both acute and (more especially) chronic conditions. Many substances are known to affect the nature of fibrin polymerised from fibrinogen, such that this might be seen as a kind of bellwether for human or plasma health. Overall, our analysis demonstrates the commonalities underpinning a variety of pathologies as seen in both hypercoagulability and hypofibrinolysis, and offers opportunities for both diagnostics and therapies.

Effect of oral and vaginal hormonal contraceptives on inflammatory blood biomarkers

The use of combined hormonal contraceptives has been reported to increase the level of C-reactive protein (CRP). We assessed the effect of hormonal contraceptive use on inflammatory cytokines including CRP, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, soluble tumor necrosis factor (sTNF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and soluble CD40 ligand. We used 79 female subjects (19 to 30 years old) who were combined oral contraceptives users (n = 29), combined vaginal contraceptive users (n = 20), and nonusers (n = 30) with CRP values of ≤1 (n = 46) or ≥3 (n = 33). Information on medical history, physical activities, and dietary and sleeping habits were collected. Both oral and vaginal contraceptive users had higher levels of CRP (P < 0.0001), compared to nonusers. Only oral contraceptive users exhibited elevated sCD40L (P < 0.01). When comparing the groups with CRP ≤ 1 and CRP ≥ 3, levels of IL-6 and sTNF-RI were positively correlated with CRP among oral contraceptive users. We did not observe the same elevation for other inflammatory biomarkers for the CRP ≥ 3 group among vaginal contraceptive users. The clear cause of elevation in CRP level due to the use of different hormonal contraceptive formulations and methods is not well understood. Longitudinal studies with larger sample size are required to better assess the true cause of CRP elevation among hormonal contraceptive users.