A pilot study evaluating the Calibrated Automated Thrombogram assay and application of plasma-thromboelastography for detection of hemostatic aberrations in horses with gastrointestinal disease

BACKGROUND: Critically ill horses, such as horses with gastrointestinal (GI) disease, often suffer from hemostatic aberrations. Global hemostatic tests examining the initiation of coagulation, clot strength and fibrinolysis, such as the Calibrated Automated Thrombogram (CAT) and plasma-thromboelastography (TEG) have not been evaluated in horses. This study aimed to evaluate CAT and apply plasma-TEG in horses. Test performance of CAT was evaluated on equine platelet poor plasma with intra- and inter-assay variability (CV) and a heparin dilution curve. To examine clinical performance of both tests, group comparisons were assessed comparing healthy horses, horses with mild and severe GI disease with both CAT and plasma-TEG. RESULTS: For CAT, intra- and inter-assay CVs were established for lag-time (1.7, 4.7%), endogenous thrombin potential (1.6, 4.6%), peak (2.6, 3.9%) and time to peak (ttPeak) (1.9, 3.4%). Increasing heparin concentrations led to the expected decrease in thrombin generation. In the group comparison analysis, CAT showed significant higher peak (p = 0.04) and ttPeak (p = 0.008) in the severe GI disease group compared to horses with mild GI disease and healthy horses, respectively. Plasma-TEG showed an increased angle (p = 0.032), maximum amplitude (p = 0.017) and shear elastic force (G) (p = 0.017) in the severe GI disease group compared to healthy horses. CONCLUSIONS: CAT performed well in horses. Both CAT and plasma-TEG identified hemostatic aberrations in horses with severe GI disease compared to healthy horses. Further studies including more horses, are needed to fully appreciate the use of CAT and plasma-TEG in this species. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12917-021-03058-7.