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Hypercoagulable Disorders
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| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings. |
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Thomas1 has proposed in the November
12, 2001, issue of the ARCHIVES a practical review of hypercoagulability syndromes.
We would like to comment on several points. Indications of thrombophilia screening
remain a matter of debate and we regret that this point was not discussed
in the article. Limiting this debate to its financial aspect, as it could
be interpreted from Table 2, which gives the cost of different assays, is
not correct in our opinion. For instance, detecting an increase of factor
VIII ($90) today has no recognized therapeutic implications, whereas elevated
homocysteine concentration ($324) can lead to safe, inexpensive, and probably
effective vitamin supplementation. Which screening to use and for which patients
is a very difficult problem that has been discussed elsewhere and that must
not be overlooked.2 In the summary, Thomas
stated that hypercoagulability syndrome can be "correctly diagnosed" in approximately
80% to 90% of patients. This appears . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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