EVALUATION OF A MODIFIED PROCEDURE FOR STACLOT LA(R) FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF LUPUS ANTICOAGULANTS

Staclot LA(R) is a hexagonal (II) phase phospholipid clotting assay us ed to confirm the presence of lupus anticoagulants (LA). However, ther e have been complaints that the procedure contains several incubation steps requiring 15 min of operator time. The authors were able to shor ten this procedure to a single 5 min incubation without affecting assa y sensitivity. Both procedures were performed on 45 known lupus antico agulant positive specimens, 25 normal donors, eleven plasmas from pati ents with known factor VIII or factor V inhibitors and ten other speci mens submitted for lupus anticoagulant or anticardiolipin antibody tes ting but without complete testing to confirm the presence of LA prior to testing with Staclot LA(R). Excellent agreement was observed betwee n the two procedures with concurrence in 87 of 91 specimens (95.6%). E ach method detected 39 of 45 LA positive specimens giving a sensitivit y of 86.7%. This modification shortens technologist time by two-thirds without compromising assay sensitivity, which will allow for automati on on commonly used coagulation analysers.