A different view of thrombosis.

In this paper we discuss some of the physical difficulties associated with the classical view of thrombosis and conclude that there are problems associated with these concepts. We propose an alternative model based on our published observations that, during ex-vivo thrombus formation, the platelets, which normally do not stain for tissue factor, become tissue factor positive. These hybrid species are capable not only of propagating coagulation, but also of initiating it. Thus thrombi can grow without evoking long-range diffusion -- a very slow and inefficient mechanism, particularly in a flowing system.