A study on anticoagulation for cardiovascular diseases using international normalized ratio (INR)

The usefulness of INR as an index for assessing anticoagulation was studied using 85 outpatients, all suffering cardiovascular diseases and receiving warfain as subjects. The thrombotest, prothrombin time and INR were measured at follow-up, monthly intervals. The correlation between the thrombotest value and the INR value were assessed retrospectively. We found a stronged correlation between them. The 10 approximately 25% range of the thrombotest value, the therapeutic range, corresponded to 2.29 approximately 3.60 of the INR value. The INR value was more accurate than the thrombotest valve in the situation of prolonged coagulation time. It is recommended to use INR as an objective index for the anticoagulation due to increase accuracy and objectivity when comparing the data among the various institutions.