Background: Simple and rapid assessment of the coagulation system is essential for an optimal management of bleeding and thrombotic disorders. Thromboelastography is a well-established point-of-care method to investigate the cellular as well as plasmatic components of the hemostasis. T2 Magnetic Resonance (T2MR) was also demonstrated to be capable of rapid platelet function testing. T2MR quantitatively monitors 1H proton relaxation over time. The T2 value is directly correlated to the water mobility within the sample. During the clotting process the mobility of the water molecules is progressively inhibited by the clot but increased in the serum environment. Thus, two curves of T2 values characterizing the clot and the serum components can be monitored and analyzed. Static and dynamic process parameters can be derived and compared to benchmark methods like thromboelastography.

Aims: Establishment of a workflow to conduct T2MR measurements with thromboelastography activators, data analysis optimization and comparison of T2MR parameters with thromboelastography results.

Methods: Citrated blood samples were collected from healthy donors and activated using specific agonist to initiate the intrinsic (IN) and extrinsic (EX & FIB) clotting pathway. Thromboelastography measurements were performed as recommended by the manufacturer. T2MR was performed with a Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence on a 1 T benchtop spectrometer.

Results: T2 value generation by triexponential fitting was optimized. T2MR curves and thromboelastography data were then analyzed by asymptotic values and curve fitting. Characteristic parameters were calculated and compared with standard thromboelastography parameters. For example the difference of the final T2 values of serum and clot for the extrinsic fibrinogen test (FIB) are lower than for the other two executed tests.

Conclusions: The shape of the T2MR can be compared to thromboelastography and characteristic parameters can be defined to check platelet function. In the next step, samples of patients with impaired platelet functions are investigated to further refine parameter definition and their clinical relevance.

[The difference of the serum and clot T2 values of 15 healthy donors and three activators.]

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ISTH Congress Abstracts - https://abstracts.isth.org/abstract/comparison-of-thromboelastography-with-t2mr-data/