Question

David comes into the emergency room late at night with a cut that will not stop bleeding. His mother. Rose, is worried that he has a bleeding disorder, just like his grandfather. The lab is closed, so the doctor cannot order a specialized coagulation test However, the hospital does have a sample of blood from a classic hemophiliac. What is the simplest test the doctor could perform using David's blood to determine if it is missing factor VIII activity?

a. combine the samples and check for coagulation
b. determine the factor VIII activity level in Rose's blood
c. compare clotting rates between the two blood samples
d. test the samples for factor VIII mutations using PCR

Answer 1

a. combine the samples and check for coagulation

Step-by-step explanation:

a. combine the samples and check for coagulation

We know that hemophilia is X linked recessive disorder which arises basically due to lacking of clotting factor in the blood (Factor VIII or Factor IX). According to the condition provided if pathology is closed so doctor can not perform the specific test so only their is chance to combine the sample of patient blood with the classic hemophiliac blood sample.As here doctor is sure that the blood sample available in his hospital is of hemophiliac patients so it does not contain clotting factor. When he mix both blood and then if the blood show coagulation it means David do not have hemophilia but if after mixing both the blood sample coagulation will not occur so David may be hemophilic.