[Prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, plasma fibrinogen determination. Comparison of two automated coagulation systems: Koagulab 40-A and ACL-100].

In this study the authors compare two automated coagulation instruments: the koagulab-40A (Orthodiagnostics Systems) and l'ACL-100 (Instrumentation Laboratory) using two different methods of detection, photo-optical and nephelemetric respectively. The three parameters studied are: prothrombin time (PT) (82 samples), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) (86 samples) and fibrinogenemia (FIB) (109 samples). For each test, they use two reagents of different origins. Samples come from people without any haemostatic disorder and from patients showing abnormal levels of these parameters (heparins or antivitamins K treatments, hypo or hyperfibrinogenemias). For the tree parameters examined, they obtain coefficients of correlation: 0.94 to 0.99 between the two instruments. These values are not noticeably modified by reagent substitution. For fibrinogenemia, the coefficient of variation (CV) is about 4%. Finally, in comparison with the photooptical classical method, the ACL-100 is more rapid, more economical (reduced volumes of reagents) and more feasible (dilutions of plasmas and tubulure changing are not necessary for fibrinogen).