Haematologica 2004;89: supplement no. 8 - Supplements ...

182Postersma and native whole blood. Both calibration exerciseshave been performed according to the WHO guidelines(WHO Technical 48th report, 1999). Briefly, prothrombintime for 60 patients on oral anticoagulantsand 20 healthy individuals has been performed in 10different working sessions. ISI-manual obtained inthis study for plasma with Lot 1 (0.99) was similar tothat declared by the manufacturer (0.98), but the ISI-Thrombotrack (0.91) was 8% lower. ISI-Thrombotrackfor Lot 2 and Lot 3 were similar to that of Lot 1, thedifferences being 75 yrs; main indications for OAT: AF 41%, valvularprosthesis 20%, DVT/PE 13%. The table displays theresults comparing pts. < 75 yrs and > 75 yrs (qualityanalysis on 735 pts), mean follow-up 248 days.All pts Pts < 75 yrs Pts ≥ 75 yrs p #Number of pts 925 496 (53.6%) 429 (46.4%)Death due to bleeding complications 0 0 0Major bleeding 4 (0.6%y/pts) 1 (0.3%y/pts) 3 (1.0%y/pts) 0.517Minor bleeding 36 (5.7%y/pts) 14 (4.2%y/pts) 22 (7.5%y/pts) 0.101Thrombotic events 18 (2.8%y/pts) 6 (1.8%y/pts) 12 (4.1%y/pts) 0.132INR within range 74.9% 73.4% 76.6% 0.361INR above range 13.8% 14.1% 13.4%INR below range 11.2% 12.3% 9.9%#between groups (< 75 yrs - ≥ 75 yrs) analysis; %y/pts = % year/patient.Conclusions: The management of patients in a ACimproves the treatment quality also in elderlypatients. The incidence of complications in our AC iscomparable to those of reference trials. In the elderly,OAT quality was similar to the younger but complicationstended to increase (not significantly), suggestinga closer monitoring of these patients.PO-173EXTERNAL QUALITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM FORCOAGULATION: THE EXPERIENCE OF EMILIA-ROMAGNAREGIONLudovici S, Legnani C,* Poggi M,* Franceschetti F,Incorvaia LR, Maltoni P, Mimmi P, Tancredi MA,Capelli MGruppo Controllo di Qualità Analitico, * U.O. diAngiologia e Malattie della Coagulazione “MarinoGolinelli”, Azienda Ospedaliera di Bologna,Policlinico S. Orsola-Malpighi, Bologna, ItalyThe external quality assessment program of theEmilia-Romagna region was created in 1987 and in1990 was extended to coagulation tests. Currently,244 Italian labs either from national health (n=74)or private (n=170) services are participating in theprogram. The program uses lyophilized human plasmaspecimens locally prepared in large, stable, uniformlots, which are distributed as unknown specimensto participants for analysis and generation ofinter-laboratory data. The participants are asked tohandle the distributed specimens using their routinemethods for the determination of Prothrombin Time,activated Thromboplastin Time, Fibrinogen and Antithrombin.Participants receive 12 specimens/year in6 cycles each of whom include one normal and onepathological specimen. Thrombophilia tests are goingto be included within the end of 2005. Results arereported using standard report forms, includinginformation on the assay principle, method andequipment used. Data are elaborated separately forhaematologica vol. 89(suppl. n. 8):september 2004