Laboratory findings
- prolonged prothrombin time
- prolonged partial thromboplastin time - but less so than for PT
- fibrinogen level, thrombin time and platelet count are unaffected
If the prothrombin time is prolonged, there are two alternatives for determining if vitamin K deficiency is the cause:
- positive response to therapeutic trial of vitamin K supplements
- plasma radioimmunoassay of the non-carboxylated precursor of prothrombin; shown to be at increased concentration
Reference
- Rina E. Eden; Sharon F. Daley; Jean M. Coviello. Vitamin K Deficiency. StatPearls Publishing. 2024 Jan
Create an account to add page annotations
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.