Articles on Medical Diseases and Conditions

Coumarin anticoagulants Liver cells produce certain coagulation factors that require vitamin K for synthesis into a form that can be activated. Drugs of the coumarin family inhibit vitamin K utilization by liver cells. The vitamin K–dependent factors, listed in order of decreasing sensitivity to coumarin, are factor VII, factor IX, factor X, and prothrombin. Factor […]

In this section the various coagulation pathway factors are discussed individually, with emphasis on abnormalities for which laboratory tests are useful. Factor I (fibrinogen) Fibrinogen is a glycoprotein that is synthesized in the liver, the liver being a major source of many coagulation factors. Conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin under the influence of thrombin is […]