Abstract
An understanding of the basic mechanics of hemostasis is fundamental to understanding disorders of hemostasis and therapies designed to alter coagulation. Generally, coagulation is divided into fibrin formation, fibrinolysis, platelet function, and natural anticoagulants. The coagulation cascade is a series of enzymatic steps designed to amplify the insult of initial trauma into the formation of a fibrin plug. Recent research has revealed how fibrin formation occurs in vivo rather than how it occurs in the test tube. The in vivo pathway for the purposes of this book is called the “new pathway” of coagulation. However, the two most common laboratory tests for coagulation and many books are still based on the test tube models of coagulation. It is important to learn about the older models of coagulation in order to understand these two laboratory tests and much of the classic literature.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Suggested Reading
Chapin JC, Hajjar KA. Fibrinolysis and the control of blood coagulation. Blood Rev. 2015;29(1):17–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.blre.2014.09.003.
Estevez B, Du X. New concepts and mechanisms of platelet activation signaling. Physiology (Bethesda). 2017;32(2):162–77.
Long AT, Kenne E, Jung R, Fuchs TA, Renné T. Contact system revisited: an interface between inflammation, coagulation, and innate immunity. J Thromb Haemost. 2016;14(3):427–37.
O’Donnell JS, O’Sullivan JM, Preston RJS. Advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms that maintain normal haemostasis. Br J Haematol. 2019.
Smith SA, Travers RJ, Morrissey JH. How it all starts: initiation of the clotting cascade. Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol. 2015;50(4):326–36.
Ten Cate H, Hackeng TM, García de Frutos P. Coagulation factor and protease pathways in thrombosis and cardiovascular disease. Thromb Haemost. 2017;117(7):1265–71.
Vojacek JF. Should we replace the terms intrinsic and extrinsic coagulation pathways with tissue factor pathway? Clin Appl Thromb Hemost. 2017;23(8):922–7.
Witkowski M, Landmesser U, Rauch U. Tissue factor as a link between inflammation and coagulation. Trends Cardiovasc Med. 2016;26(4):297–303.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
DeLoughery, T.G. (2019). Basics of Coagulation. In: DeLoughery, T. (eds) Hemostasis and Thrombosis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19330-0_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19330-0_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19329-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19330-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)