Platelet Protocols: Research and Clinical Laboratory Procedures

Scientists have made great strides in understanding what stimulates platelets to form blood clots at the molecular level and in developing drugs to inhibit platelet action. Their work has an effect on people who deal with cardiovascular disease, strokes, surgery, physical trauma, and other conditions. . It is a comprehensive laboratory manual on current procedures for evaluating and analyzing platelet function and abnormalities. Topics range from the basics of anticoagulants to the latest developments in platelet testing.

Laboratory Evaluation of Platelet Function:
Introduction.
Variables.
Drawing and Processing Blood for Platelet Aggregation.
Platelet Aggregation and Secretion.
Platelet Agonists.
Clot Retraction.
Functional Abnormalities of Platelets:
Introduction.
Storage Pool Disorders.
Release Defects.
Glanzmann′s Thrombasthenia.
Von Willebrand′s Disease.
Bernard Soulier Syndrome.
Bleeding Time Prolongation.
Therapeutic Approaches to Inhibition of Platelet Function and Pharmacodynamic Evaluations:
GPIIb-IIIa Antagonists.
Other Anti-Platelet Therapies.
Drugs That May Affect Platelet Function.
Appendix:
Recipes for Citrate Based Anticoagulants.
Inhibitors Used in Platelet Techniques.
Cytoskeletal Preparation and Recipes.
Gel-Filtered Platelets.
Washed Platelets.
Western Blots of Acrylamide Gels Gell and Blot Recipes.
Staining of Platelets for Flow Cytometric Analysis.
Subject Index.