Hirudin, an extract from the leech, has powerful antithrombin activity affecting the blood coagulation pathway. We evaluated the usefulness of hirudin in anticoagulating specimens for routine laboratory tests. Results using blood anticoagulated with hirudin corresponded well with results with blood treated with ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) in the complete blood count (CBC), including white blood cell (WBC) differential count and morphology of blood cells, when CBC was performed within 2 h of blood collection. Clinical chemistry results from hirudin-treated samples were similar to results obtained with serum specimens. Thus, hirudin may be a useful anticoagulant for emergency laboratory medicine.
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