Glossary

ANAEMIA - A reduction below normal in the number of erythrocytes or in the quantity of haemoglobin in the blood.

ERYTHROCYTES - red corpuscles or red blood cells.

BRUISING (extravasations) - An escape of fluid from the vessels which ought to contain it ('a bruise').

HAEMOGLOBIN - The pigment of red blood cells that constitutes about 33% of the cell volume and transports oxygen and carbon dioxide.

INTERNATIONAL NORMALISED RATIO (INR) - is based on the ratio of patient PT to a mean normal PT which is then corrected for any variation in thromboplastin. Thromboplastin is calibrated against a standard thromboplastin supplied by the World Health Organisation.

INTRAVASCULAR COAGULATION PROCESS - Widespread formation of thrombi in the microcirculation, mainly within the capillaries.

MELAENA - This is a condition of the stools in which dark, tarry masses are passed from the bowel. It is due to bleeding from the stomach or from the higher part of the bowel, the blood undergoing chemical changes uder the action of the secretions, and being finally converted in large part into sulphide of iron.

PALPABLE - Perceptible by touch.

PETECHIAE - These are small spots on the skin, of red or purple color, resembling flea bites. They are small haemorrhages of the skin, as in purpura.

PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATORS - These are termed t-PA (tissue plasminogen activator) and u-PA (urokinase-type plasminogen activator).

PURPURA - These are purple spots on the skin of the body, due to extravasations of blood in the skin, associated occasionally with haemorrhages from mucous membranes.

RISTOCETIN - is a drug which has been found to produce abnormal platelet aggregation when added in-vitro to the platelets of patients suffering from von Willebrand disease.

VITAMIN K - a fat soluble vitamin, whose levels often fall due to either inadequate dietary intake or administration of broad spectrum antibiotics which suppress synthesis of vitamin K in the gut. It is required for the synthesis of vitamin K dependent clotting factors.