Trombosis: A Very Brief Summary

a. Dr. Gleason started out his talk differently than most, he told the class his topic was not just business, rather it was personal to him. He told us about how he and his wife decided to adopt a child from Ethiopia, and her name was Kennedy, however, she sadly passed away before she could join the Gleason family. The reasons why she died could have been prevented in a developed country such as America, but Ethiopia 1 out of 6 children die before their fifth birthday. Child mortality is a significant issue outside of the United states, and in 2010 over 8 million children died within 5 years of their birth, and about 50% of these children were in sub-Sahara Africa. After Dr. Gleason experienced this problem first hand, he decided to merge his
Dr. Ku’s first major point of this article is that thrombosis is and why it is so dangerous to humans. Thrombosis is an arterial disease that results in the clotting of blood in various parts of the circulatory system. When this phenomenon is encountered in a patient who is suffering from a life-threatening hemorrhage, thrombosis can stop the bleeding, therefore, saving lives. However, when this occurs outside of those conditions, the patient is in danger and can result in a stoppage in blood flow. The second major point in the article is the effect of shear rate on thrombosis. In vessels, the blood flows fastest in the center and its velocity reaches zero at the vessel walls, and the wall shear rate is equal to the near-wall velocity divided by (y). When the high shear rate is coupled with a condition such as a stenosis, or the narrowing of arterial vessels, the rates can increase 400 times the normal amount and can lead to thrombosis. The third major point of the article is the effects of vWF on thrombosis. In order for thrombosis to form platelets must attach to the vessel wall through an adhesive surface and protein such as vWF, which is the preferred protein for platelets to bond with. The platelets in the blood vessel are more likely to bond to the walls when paired with stenosis, high shear rate, and vWF, thus creating the perfect conditions for thrombosis. Dr. Ku’s fourth major point of the article is the clinical implication that comes as a result of his findings, mainly altering medical device’s placement and materials. According to the article, high shear locations occur with vascular grafts, arteriovenous fistulas, endovascular aneurysm repairs and centrifugal pumps. By avoiding placement in or by correction these stenotic regions that might require one of the devices above, the risk of high shear regions is greatly diminished. Another way to reduce the risk of thrombosis is to choose materials for medical devices that have a minimal protein