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. 2024 Feb;46(1):120-127.
doi: 10.1111/ijlh.14166. Epub 2023 Sep 14.

Comparisons between diluted thrombin time, ecarin chromogenic assays, and UPLC-MS for plasma level dabigatran quantification: Results from DRIVING study

Ambre de Fautereau-Vassel  1 , Antoine Mokhtarian  1 , Manon Mangenot  1 , Ombeline Krekounian  1 , Isabelle Kousignian  1 , Xavier Delavenne  2 , Emmanuel Curis  1   3   4 , Isabelle Gouin-Thibault  5 , Virginie Siguret  3   4
Affiliations

Comparisons between diluted thrombin time, ecarin chromogenic assays, and UPLC-MS for plasma level dabigatran quantification: Results from DRIVING study

Ambre de Fautereau-Vassel et al. Int J Lab Hematol. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

Introduction: The knowledge of dabigatran levels is helpful for decision-making in specific situations such as urgent surgery or when the question of reversal arises (uncontrolled bleeding, eligibility for thrombolysis). However, a limited number of observational studies are available regarding comparisons between quantification methods. The objective of the study was to compare dabigatran plasma levels using three assays including the reference method (high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry), focusing on the agreement around the 30-50 ng/mL clinically relevant thresholds.

Methods: Sixty healthy volunteers from DRIVING trial (NCT01627665) were given a single 300-mg dabigatran etexilate dose. Serial blood samplings were performed at pre-defined time points (0 to 24 h). We analyzed plasma samples using ultra-performance-liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) (dabigatran reference method); ii/diluted thrombin time (dTT) (Hemoclot-DTI-Hyphen-Biomed); iii/ecarin-based chromogenic assay (ECA-II-Stago).

Results: Nine hundred sixty samples were analyzed using the three assays (2759 values). dTT and ECA-II values were highly correlated with those of UPLC-MS (Deming regression). Most values >50 ng/mL were higher using dTT and ECA-II compared to UPLC-MS: biases were constant, +14% and +16% with dTT and ECA-II, respectively (Bland-Altman plots), suggesting that active metabolites accounted for ~15% of thrombin inhibition. Regarding values <30 ng/mL, 30-50 ng/mL, or ≥50 ng/mL, the agreement probability between dTT and ECA-II was of 90.6% [88.4-92.5] (Cohen's kappa coefficient 0.84).

Conclusion: dTT and ECA-II assays rapidly provide accurate dabigatran-level results for clinical practice, both assays being suitable in emergency, taking into account the thrombin inhibitory effect of dabigatran metabolites.

Keywords: UPLC; dabigatran; diluted thrombin time; ecarin; quantification.

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References

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