Comparison of activated clotting times to heparin management test for adequacy of heparin anticoagulation in percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

The aim of this study was to compare the activated clotting time (ACT) obtained with the Hemochron device and the Heparin Management Test (HMT) on a new automated whole-blood coagulometer, the Thrombolytic Assessment System, in patients undergoing angioplasty. Fifty patients undergoing balloon angioplasty were prospectively enrolled. The mean ACT after a 10,000 unit bolus of heparin was 283 +/- 39 sec at the end of the procedure. The mean HMT after 10,000 units of heparin was 286 +/- 31 sec at the end of the procedure in the same patients. The correlation between the two methods was significant (r = 0.6; P < 0.01). The HMT appears to correlate well with standard values obtained with the Hemochron ACT monitor in patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.