INR Monitoring in Patients with Antiphospholipid Antibodies with Finger Stick INR Machines.

INR Monitoring in Patients with Antiphospholipid Antibodies with Finger Stick INR Machines.

by: Stephan Moll, MD. A superb way to monitor INRs (International Normalized Ratio) in patients on oral anticoagulants who do NOT have antiphospholipid antibodies (APLA) is though use of “point of care instruments”, where the INR is tested on blood from a finger stick. This method gives fast results and is used by many physicians’ offices and by some patients at home. However, in patients with APLA on oral anticoagulants these instruments may give inaccurate readings.

http://www.apsfa.org/docs/APSFAVol5Spring2007.pdf