6. Quote
“The tongue like a sharp knife... kills
without drawing blood.”-Buddah
http://raisingrrl.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/o005-buddha-w-
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/blood/
beads-jade.jpg
7. Thrombosis
Intravascular coagulation
of the blood in any part of
the circulatory system
[heart,arteries,veins,capilla
ries]
Definition of Thrombosis." MedicineNet.
MedicineNet, Inc, 1996. Web. 27 Feb.
2011. <http://www.medterms.com/script/main/
art.asp?articlekey=25023
8. What is Factor V
-Gene mutation, not a disease
-Makes patients more likely to develop a
clot
-Hereditary
-Factor V gene: protein for blood to clot
properly
Hamilton Health Science (Aug. 2007). PDF file.
9. Obtaining This
"Heterozygous Factor V Leiden." Chart. Hamilton Health Sciences. N.p., 17 Aug.
2007. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. <http://www.stoptheclot.org/documents/
FactorVLeiden-lw.pdf>.
10. Obtaining the
"Homozygous Factor V Leiden." Chart. Hamilton Health Sciences. N.p., 17 Aug.
2007. Web. 17 Feb. 2011.
11. Ashley Scott
My name is Ashley Scott. 9 months ago my 21
year old sister died very suddenly from a
Pulmonary Thrombosis Embolism.
There were no warning signs at all. She simply
woke up to turn her alarm clock off, and she fell
to the floor, where she later died.
Since then my mother and I have been tested. I
found out that I had Factor V Leiden about three
months ago. My mother just found out this past
week that she was heterozygote as well.
12. How to get rid of
http://www.daviddarling.info/images/
http://www.merckmanuals.com/media/home/figures/MMHE_14_173_01_eps.gif http://img.tfd.com/dorland/thumbs/
aneurysm_endovascular_stent.jpg
13. Transluminal
Opens narrowed tricuspid &
pulmonary valves or veins
series of inflation-deflation cycles
are required to enlarge the
narrowing.
"Percutaneous Transluminal Balloon Valvuloplasty." National Heart Centre
http://img.tfd.com/dorland/thumbs/angioplasty_balloon.jpg Singapore. N.p., 2010. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://www.nhcs.com.sg/
patientcare/ConditionsAndTreatments/Pages/
14. Stents
wire metal mesh tube used to open
an artery
reduces re-narrowing which occurs
after balloon procedure
restores normal blood flow and
keeps artery open
http://www.news-medical.net/image.axd? "Stents." National Lung and Blood Institute . N.p., n.d. Web. 24
picture=2010%2F1%2Fstent_lowres.gif Feb. 2011.
15. Testing:Activated Protein
C Resistance
patient’s plasma is diluted in Factor
V-deficient plasma; test is done on
that plasma
result comes out as ratio
addition of APC more than doubles
the clot time
Activated Protein C Resistance (APCR)." Florida
Hospital Center forThrombosis
Reasearch. N.p., 2008. Web. 27 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.fhthrombosis.com/APCR>.
18. Once on coumadin
Get regular blood test
eat a normal, balanced diet: no leafy greens
take at the same time every day
Coumadin. New Jersey: Bristol-
Myers Squibb, 2007. Print.
22. Lovenox
Enoxaparin Injection
helps reduce risk of developing
DVTs
alters normal clotting process so
clots cannot form easily
What is Lovenox (enoxaparin)?" Greenwich Hospital (Sept.
2008): 2. PDF file.
23. How does Lovenox
acts with antithrombin III which
neutralize activated Factor X
inhibits the 2 clotting factors
24. How to Inject
standard spot to inject is abdomen; “pinch an
inch”
if you must adjust dosage, put in sink
pinch skin and fat
stick need in as far as it goes
inject medication slowly
keep needle in a few seconds; take it out
You always hear about people developing cancer or that someone has found out that they have AIDS or even that someone has the flu. What you never hear about though, is that someone has just found out that they have Factor V Leiden. This is why I would like to educate people about this topic and make it more known. I would also love to figure out what a person who has this mutation has to go through and how they deal with living with it. \n
You&#x2019;re sitting at home, minding your own business, surfing the web or playing solitaire. Suddenly, you get a call from your sister/brother saying they can&#x2019;t feel their leg, it&#x2019;s bruised and it&#x2019;s in one area. Your mom rushed her to the ER and you don&#x2019;t hear anything until you get home from school the next day. The words &#x201C;blood clots&#x201D; and &#x201C;they&#x2019;re in the ICU.&#x201D; The doctors found 2 blood clots: one down their entire left leg and the other in their lungs. Normally, when a clot is in your lungs it means it passed through the heart which is usually fatal. Knowing that fact hit the most. My oldest sister Kelly learned she had Factor V Leiden this way. \n
On September 15, 2010 she went to the hospital due to her leg being like led,cold, and discolored. On September 16, 2010 she was admitted into ICU and into surgery. The doctors tried to do a balloon procedure, which I will explain later, which failed. Since that failed, she had to get 3 stents into her vein in her left leg. For the first couple of days she was not allowed to move. Kelly had to lay on her back just so the TPA, the medicine in order for the clot to dissolve, to work through her system. That took a couple more days for the clot to dissolve. Finally, everything was dissolved and she just had to wait for her prothrobintime levels to be up so she could finally be moved from ICU to a regular room.\n
Everything was going fine and dandy, until the first or second day after being moved into a regular room, she developed a clot around her PICC line. A PICC line is a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter which is an IV line that puts medication from your arm to your heart so the heart can pump the medication to the rest of your body. She was then switched to a regular IV and had the medication inserted a different way so she did not have any more trouble with that. After 2 weeks in the hopsital, she was aloud to be discharged. \n
(read quote) I picked this quote because to me, this is what FVL is. You could never know you have the mutation because nobody in your family ever developed a clot. It could be, however, what kills you. It could be a silent killer without a drop of blood to show for it. \n
Factor V Leiden is placed under thrombosis. Thrombosis is the intravascular coagulation of the blood in any part of the circulatory system. This system includes the heart, arteries, veins, or capillaries. In some cases, the clot could potentially break lose and work its way through the bloodstream. We call this, a thromboembolism. This can be fatal. Once it goes through the heart and makes its way into your lungs, you&#x2019;re more than likely dead before the doctors, or you, find it. That is what kills the most people. They do not know that they have this gene mutation and when they get a clot, they don&#x2019;t know how to react or they just don&#x2019;t know that it is a clot and it breaks off and heads for their lungs. My sister&#x2019;s clot broke off and went into her lungs but thankfully, we caught it in time. \n
What is Factor V Leiden? At first, my family thought it to be a disease, but it is actually a mutation of the Factor V gene which is the protein for blood to clot properly. There needs to be a balance of the proteins in order to make sure there is just enough clotting power. If there is not enough clotting power, this can lead to bleeding problems. On the other hand, if there is too much clotting power, it can lead to the formation of dangerous blood clots. Therefore, this mutation allows you to be more susceptible to clots. This mutation is hereditary and affects 1 in every 1,000 people. It leads to 50,000 deaths. The 2 most deadly clots are in the lungs and legs, which is what my sister had. Those 2 clots, unfortunately are what would be the death of the victims. This only effects the veins, not arteries. \n
You should remember from Biology that heterozygous means one gene from the parents. So, in this case, the patient inherited 1 Factor V Leiden gene from one of your parents. When this happens, you have 50% Factor V Leiden and 50% normal Factor V. Heterozygous Factor V Leiden occurs in about 5 out of 100 people of caucasian decent. \n
You should also remember that homozygous means 2 genes from both parents. Therefore, in this case you inherited one Factor V Leiden gene from mother and one from your father. Since that&#x2019;s the case, you have 100% of Factor V Leiden and no normal Factor V. Homozygous Factor V Leiden affects less than 1 out of 100 people. \n
\n
There are two ways you can try to dissolve the clot besides TPA. Doctors can either surgically put in a transluminal balloon. If this does not work, they will have to put stents into the vein. \n
This helps open narrowed pulmonary veins. Once placed, a series of inflation-deflation cycles are required to enlarge the narrowing. Now, you may be asking how they get the balloon into the vein. Well, first the physician isolates a vein and then inserts a large need through the skin, into the vein. A guide wire is threaded through the needle into the vessel. Once this occurs, the needle is removed. A catheter with a balloon attached follows the venous system and into narrowed portion of vessel.s The balloon is then inflated. The blood vessel is stretched to a larger diameter allowing more normal flow of blood. When this fails, like in my sister&#x2019;s case, a stent is inserted. \n
Another way to try and relieve the clot is by having a stent surgically put in. A stent is a wire, metal, mesh tube used to open the artery. This reduces the chance of it re-narrowing which happens after the balloon procedure has failed. It restores normal blood flow and keeps artery open. In order to put the stent in by doctors inflating the balloon just as if they were doing a transluminal balloon procedure. The balloon then pushes against the plaque and crushes it against the artery wall. Once fully extended balloon expands the stent thus pushing it into place in the artery. Once in there, the balloon then deflates and is taken out along with the catheter. With those two out, the stent remains in the artery. Eventually, the cells will cover the mesh of the stent and then creates an inner layer which ends up looking like the inside of a regular blood vessel. \n
The patient&#x2019;s plasma is diluted in FVL deficient plasma. The test is then done on that plasma with or without the addition of purified activated protein C. The result comes out as a ratio which is the clot time with activated protein C divided by clot time without activated protein C. The addition of activated protein C usually more than doubles the clot time. A patient with more than a 2.0 activated protein C resistance will most likely carry the FVL mutation. A heterozygous FVL carrier will have an activated protein C resistance ratios from 1.5-2.0, whereas a homozygous FVL carrier will have a ratio less than 1.5\n
There are two ways you can control the mutation so you do not get another blood clot. One way is Coumadin, which is taken orally. Another way is Lovenox, which is an injection. \n
Coumadin is a blood thinner which reduces the formation of blood clots. \n
PT/INR tests stands for Prothrombin Time and International Normalized Ratio. The tests are used to see how quickly the blood clots and whether you are getting the right amount of Coumadin. The number that comes out tells the doctor if the Coumadin is helping you or not. The reason why you should not have leafy greens in your diet because they contain vitamin K. Too much of vitamin K can lower the effect of Coumadin. Taking the medicine at the same time every day helps make the medicine be more affective.\n
Once on the medication, you must monitor every time you take the medication and how much. This allows the doctor to figure out if the medication is not working they can either up the dosage or lower it. The doctors just want to test out how the dosage amount that they first prescribe at first will react with your body and after how long you have been taking it. Another thing that monitoring the dosage will also help with you just remembering to take it. If your doctor sees that you missed taking the coumadin, he could either try to give you something else or try to work with you so you remember better.\n
