Lupus anticoagulant—proficiency test and preanalytics
May 2024—What is a lupus anticoagulant (LA)? LA is somewhat of a misnomer. Many patients with this condition do not have systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and usually do not bleed. However, the in vitro phenomenon was originally described in patients with SLE, as well as other autoimmune disorders—thus use of the term “lupus,” and this does often lead to prolonged in vitro coagulation testing—thus use of the term “anticoagulant.”