ALBERT

Description: Abstract 2988 Poster Board II-964 BACKGROUND: In pediatric venous thromboembolism (VTE), duration of hypercoagulability—which has implications for recurrence risk and duration of therapy–is not readily assessed despite a battery of laboratory assays for comprehensive thrombophilia testing. Global clotting assays offer the possibility to better understand duration of hypercoagulability on an individualized basis. OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate overall coagulability and fibrinolytic potential over time in children with acute VTE and to compare these findings with D-dimer and established thrombophilia traits. METHODS: The Clot Formation and Lysis (CloFAL) global assay was performed in platelet-poor plasma in 58 children enrolled in a single-institutional prospective inceptional cohort study of VTE at The Children's Hospital, Colorado, between March 2006 and June 2009. This spectrophotometric fibrin registration assay employing clotting activation with dilute tissue factor and phospholipid and fibrinolytic enhancement with tissue plasminogen activator has been previously shown analytically sensitive to physiologic and pathologic alterations in multiple components of the coagulation and fibrinolytic systems (Goldenberg et al., Thromb Res 2005). Hypercoagulability was defined by an area under the curve (AUC) of the CloFAL waveform that exceeded the upper limit of age-appropriate reference values established in healthy children (n=26) using the non-parametric method of Tukey, and hypofibrinolysis was similarly defined as a fibrinolytic index (FI, which relates to the slope of decline in absorbance over the period of 30 minutes following maximal amplitude of clot formation) that was below the lower limit of normal. Coagulation index (CI, measured as the AUC over the first 30 minutes of the assay, indexed to the pooled normal plasma standard) was also evaluated, and compared to established reference ranges. Analyses were grouped by period post-diagnosis, as follows: acute (0-1 month; n=10), subacute (1-3 months; n=12), early chronic (3-6 months; n=10), late chronic (≥1 year; n=32). Comprehensive testing for genetic and acquired thrombophilia states was performed in all subjects, along with serial assessment of D-dimer and automated euglobulin lysis time (ELT). RESULTS: Of the 58 children with VTE evaluated for global coagulative and fibrinolytic capacity, 25% underwent repeat testing in follow-up. A positive relationship with factor VIII activity (FVIII) was demonstrated for both CI and AUC (r=0.37, P=0.006 and r=0.52, P

Description: BACKGROUND: Antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) that persist ≥12 weeks in adults with acute thrombosis are predictive of thrombus recurrence. The significance of APA in children with thrombosis is unclear. This study was developed to examine the relationship of a persistently positive lupus anticoagulant (≥ 12 weeks), assessed by the dilute Russell Viper Venom Time (dRVVT), to adverse thrombus outcomes including progression or recurrence. In addition, the relationship of a persistently positive dRVVT to the prevalence and titer of several other APA in children with thrombosis were examined. METHODS: Data from a consented prospective inceptional cohort study of pediatric thrombosis and thrombophilia (COMIRB 05–0339) were extracted for this analytic project. Eligibility included age ≤ 21 years at presentation, objectively confirmed thrombus, dRVVT within 4 weeks of presentation and repeated ≥ 12 weeks later. Patients with a persistently positive dRVVT (ratio of Screen/Confirm ≥1.2) were classified as having antiphospholipid syndrome (APS positive), and those with a negative dRVVT were classified as APS negative. Twelve or more weeks from presentation, patient plasmas were tested in ELISA assays for the presence and titer of IgM and IgG antibodies directed against protein C (PC), protein S (PS), prothrombin (II), β-2-Glycoprotein I (B2GPI), and cardiolipin (ACA). A euglobulin clot lysis assay (ELT) and hexagonal (II) phase phospholipid assay (STACLOT LA, Diagnostica Stago, Inc.) were also performed. RESULTS: The cohort included 122 cases with thrombosis. Of these, 35 failed eligibility due to transient dRVVT positivity or lack of blood sampling within the specified time period. Of the remaining 87 patients, 43 were APS positive and 44 were APS negative. APS positivity was associated with longer duration of therapy (p

Description: Historical as well as current species distribution data are needed to track changes in biodiversity. Species distribution data are found in a variety of sources, each of which has its own distinct bias toward certain taxa, time periods or places. We present GalliForm, a database that comprises 186687 galliform occurrence records linked to 118907 localities in Europe and Asia. Records were derived from museums, peer-reviewed and grey literature, unpublished field notes, diaries and correspondence, banding records, atlas records and online birding trip reports. We describe data collection processes, georeferencing methods and quality-control procedures. This database has underpinned several peer-reviewed studies, investigating spatial and temporal bias in biodiversity data, species’ geographic range changes and local extirpation patterns. In our rapidly changing world, an understanding of long-term change in species’ distributions is key to predicting future impacts of threatening processes such as land use change, over-exploitation of species and climate change. This database, its historical aspect in particular, provides a valuable source of information for further studies in macroecology and biodiversity conservation.