Evaluation of CoaguChek Pro ACT in cardiac catheterization laboratory

The objective of this study was to assess the analytical performance of Coa guChek Pro ACT assay Versus Hemochron Celite ACT assay concerning activated clotting time (ACT) values and the correlations versus heparin. Enrolled w ere 158 patients and 101 normal subjects from five cardiac catheterization laboratories (cathlabs), Two different CoaguChek Pro ACT lots were compared to different lots of Hemochron Celite ACT. All sites used arterial blood a nd one site also used venous blood. Determinations were carried out before and directly after heparinization, and 1-4 h later. Besides the ACT values, hematocrit, platelet counts and factor Xa levels were also determined, The correlations between the Hemochron Celite lots and the two different Coagu Chek Pro lots for arterial and venous blood for all sites were good (r = 0. 88 and 0.84). The agreement between both CoaguChek Pro ACT lots was excelle nt (r = 0.99). The correlations between heparin and CoaguChek Pro ACT were similar to those for the Hemochron Celite lots. There was no influence of t he hematocrit and the platelets. The imprecision of the method was very goo d (CV < 6%). This demonstrates that the CoaguChek Pro ACT assay is especial ly useful for monitoring heparin in cathlabs, (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V . All rights reserved.