Overall haemostatic potential can be used for estimation of thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor-dependent fibrinolysis in vivo and for possible follow-up of recombinant factor VIIa treatment in patients with inhibitors to factor VIII.

This paper describes a novel method for assessment of hemostasis (overall hemostatic potential, OHP) based on determination of the fibrin aggregation curve using a tiny amount of thrombin. OHP was used to measure thromin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) before and after treatment with rFVIIa. It is thought that one of the mechanisms of action of rFVIIa is through thrombin activation and generation of TAFI. OHP seems to be a sensitive method for measuring TAFI, but further studies of a larger number of cases are required.

– Maadh Aldouri