Hemostasis and Blood Coagulation

How does heparin primarily function as an anticoagulant?

By what approximate factor does the effectiveness of antithrombin III for removing thrombin increase when it combines with heparin?

In addition to thrombin, which other activated coagulation factors are removed by the heparin and antithrombin III complex?

Which cells in the body are responsible for forming the largest quantities of heparin?

What is the primary physiological function of plasmin?

What powerful activator, released slowly by injured tissues and vascular endothelium, converts plasminogen into plasmin?

What is identified in the text as an especially important function of the plasmin system?

A deficiency in vitamin K impairs the function of a liver carboxylase, leading to an insufficiency of which group of important coagulation factors?

In healthy individuals, where is vitamin K continually synthesized, making a deficiency resulting from poor diet uncommon?

Why does poor absorption of fats from the gastrointestinal tract frequently cause vitamin K deficiency?

Why do diseases of the liver, such as hepatitis or cirrhosis, sometimes lead to a severe tendency to bleed?

What percentage of hemophilia cases is classified as hemophilia A, which is caused by a deficiency of factor VIII?

A deficiency in which specific clotting factor is the cause of hemophilia B?

What is the genetic transmission pattern for the factors responsible for hemophilia A and B?

If a woman is a carrier for hemophilia, what is the statistical chance that her male offspring will inherit the illness?

Classic hemophilia, also known as hemophilia A, is caused by a deficiency in which specific component of factor VIII?

What is the medical definition of thrombocytopenia?

How does the characteristic bleeding in thrombocytopenia typically differ from that seen in hemophilia?

The clinical sign of many small, red or purplish blotches on the skin, known as petechiae, is characteristic of which bleeding disorder?

According to the text, platelet counts below what value per microliter increase the risk for excessive bleeding after surgery or injury, compared to the normal range of 150,000 to 450,000 per microliter?

Platelet count levels that fall as low as what value per microliter are described as being frequently lethal?

In most patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenia, what is believed to be the underlying mechanism for the condition?

Why is vitamin K often administered to surgical patients who have either liver disease or obstructed bile ducts?

Which enzyme is responsible for reducing the oxidized, inactive form of vitamin K back to its active form, allowing it to be reused?

Plasmin, the proteolytic enzyme responsible for digesting fibrin fibers, is formed from the activation of which precursor protein?

The mast cells that produce the largest quantities of heparin are particularly abundant in the tissue surrounding the capillaries of which two organs?

What potential state of the blood can be caused by the formation of excessive amounts of plasmin?

What happens to the plasma protein plasminogen during the formation of a blood clot?

Why is vitamin K deficiency a particular concern in neonates?

What is described as one of the most prevalent causes of vitamin K deficiency related to the function of the liver?

What is the approximate incidence of classic hemophilia (hemophilia A) among males in the United States?

According to the principles of X-linked recessive inheritance described, why is it rare for a woman to have hemophilia?

What factor determines the degree of severity of the bleeding trait observed in a person with hemophilia?

The loss of the large component of factor VIII, which has a molecular weight in the millions, results in which bleeding disorder?

Even without a specific platelet count, what observation regarding a person's blood clot can lead to a suspicion of thrombocytopenia?

Which of the following is listed in the text as one of the major causes of thrombocytopenia?

What is required for the heparin molecule to exert its anticoagulant properties?

The proteolytic enzyme plasmin, which digests fibrin fibers, is described as resembling which important digestive enzyme?

Vitamin K serves as an essential factor for what type of liver enzyme, which is critical for making several clotting factors functional?

While the risk of bleeding after injury increases at a higher platelet count, spontaneous bleeding will not ordinarily occur until the platelet count falls below what level?

Which cells, found in the blood and described as being functionally almost identical to mast cells, release small quantities of heparin into the plasma?

Typically, how long after a clot has successfully stopped bleeding does tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) convert plasminogen to plasmin to begin removing the unnecessary clot?

What is the general underlying cause of excessive bleeding tendencies discussed in the chapter?

Hemophilia, a major bleeding disease, is described as occurring almost exclusively in which demographic group?

When a patient with classic hemophilia has severe and prolonged bleeding, what is described as the only truly effective therapy?

According to the text, what is a particularly important function of platelets in maintaining the integrity of the vasculature?

What is the approximate proportion of hemophilia patients who do not have a family history of the disease, suggesting their condition is caused by a novel mutation event?

What intervention, other than splenectomy, can provide temporary relief from bleeding for 1 to 4 days in a patient suffering from thrombocytopenia?

How can liver disease cause a decreased production of prothrombin and other clotting factors through a dual mechanism?

In addition to fibrin fibers and fibrinogen, which of the following groups of coagulation proteins can also be digested by the enzyme plasmin?