Activated clotting time test alone is inadequate to optimize therapeutic heparin dosage adjustment during post-cardiopulmonary resuscitational extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (e-CPR):

Background:We conducted an observational study to evaluate the relationship between activated clotting time (ACT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) tests, anticipating the possibility that the ACT will become a substitute test for the aPTT in post-CPR extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (e-CPR).Patients and Methods:Three hundred and fifteen paired ACT and aPTT samples were derived from 60 in-hospital e-CPR patients and were divided into three groups according to the observed ACT value: low level (ACT 210 s, Group C). The relationship of aPTT in each group was analyzed.Results:The mean ACT and aPTT values were 189.39 ± 48.27 s (IQR, 163–202) and 71.85 ± 45.32 s (IQR, 44.5–81.8), respectively. Although the observed mean ACT value of 189.39 s was similar to the intended mean target value of 190 s (p=0.823), the observed mean aPTT value (71.85 s) was significantly lower than the predicted mean target value (77.5 ...