Decentralized testing for prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time using a dry chemistry portable analyzer.

Previous work has established the precision and accuracy of a portable blood coagulation analysis system using paramagnetic particles contained in a dry reagent on a disposable test card. We examined the deployment of this technology in decentralized hospital settings and compared test results obtained in the surgical intensive care unit, coronary care unit, and outpatient cardiology clinic with those obtained in the central laboratory. Nursing personnel were instructed in the use of the system, and quality control testing was performed daily by the laboratory staff. In the intensive care units, patient subjects included those on whom tests of prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time had been ordered. Immediate determinations were performed by the intensive care unit nursing staff on the same citrated, whole-blood samples that were subsequently sent to the central laboratory. In the outpatient cardiology clinic, fingerstick blood samples were obtained for prothrombin time determinations with the dry chemistry system. Paired prothrombin time samples obtained by venipuncture were run in the hospital laboratory. The study involved multiple users, multiple locations, two lots of activated partial thromboplastin time cards, and several different instruments, over an extended period. Correlation coefficients between the dry chemistry system and the hospital laboratory under these conditions were in an acceptable range in all sites studied. We concluded that, with appropriate training and quality assurance, the dry chemistry system provides an acceptable alternative to the hospital laboratory for prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time determinations.