I would like to thank the following individuals for contributing – directly or indirectly – to the realization of this book. In alphabetical order: André Aleman, Ann Avouris, Marten Blom, Jos Brinkmann, Kirstin Daalman, Kelly Diederen, John Enterman, Barbara Fasting, Audrey Fennema, Dominic ffytche, Mark van der Gaag, Rutger Goekoop, Bert van Hemert, Melissa Higgs, Wijbrand Hoek, Ellen van Hummel, René Kahn, King Kho, Jasper Looijestijn, Willemke Marinus, Sankara Narayanan, Bas Neggers, Felix Portnoy, Anne- Marije Rijkaart, Hugo Simons, Karin Slotema, Iris Sommer, Victor Vladár Rivero, Remco de Vries, Renate de Vries, Antoin de Weijer, and an unknown number of anonymous reviewers who helped to move the project forward. Last but not least, I would like to thank the many patients from the Parnassia Bavo Group and elsewhere, who were willing to provide verbal reports of their hallucinations, and to thus share their experiences with me over the years.

Thrombotic and bleeding disorders affect at least 10 million people in the US alone. There has also been a great deal of concern over travel-related deep vein thrombosis and therefore much more interest and research into the field of blood clotting. This new and concise practical guide will cover all the essentials one needs to know when managing thrombotic and bleeding disorders. The field of haematology is undergoing major advances in thrombosis research, including significant additions to recommended treatment protocols. The Essential Guide to Coagulation will distil the most clinically, up-to-date and relevant material from the literature for all those working in the field. Faced with a bleeding patient, it may be difficult to discern whether blood loss is due to a local factor or secondary to an underlying haemostatic defect. There are a range of simple and specialized laboratory texts which can be performed to further define the cause of bleeding in a patient. Since the first edition there have been many developments in the field including many new anticoagulant drugs. These new classes of "direct thrombin inhibitors" slow the coagulation cascade by directly binding to thrombin, a clotting factor essential in the clotting process. If thrombin is blocked, clot formation is delayed. A key component of this guide will be the latest treatment strategies available for patients.

Thrombotic and bleeding disorders affect at least 10 million people in the US alone. There has also been a great deal of concern over travel-related deep vein thrombosis and therefore much more interest and research into the field of blood clotting. This new and concise practical guide will cover all the essentials one needs to know when managing thrombotic and bleeding disorders. The field of haematology is undergoing major advances in thrombosis research, including significant additions to recommended treatment protocols. The Essential Guide to Coagulation will distil the most clinically, up-to-date and relevant material from the literature for all those working in the field. Faced with a bleeding patient, it may be difficult to discern whether blood loss is due to a local factor or secondary to an underlying haemostatic defect. There are a range of simple and specialized laboratory texts which can be performed to further define the cause of bleeding in a patient. Since the first edition there have been many developments in the field including many new anticoagulant drugs. These new classes of "direct thrombin inhibitors" slow the coagulation cascade by directly binding to thrombin, a clotting factor essential in the clotting process. If thrombin is blocked, clot formation is delayed. A key component of this guide will be the latest treatment strategies available for patients.