The Activated Clotting Time (ACT) is a point-of-care, whole blood clotting test. It is primarily used to monitor high-dose heparin therapy during procedures where intense, immediate anticoagulation is needed and the standard APTT test is not practical or rapid enough. This includes cardiac surgery (like coronary artery bypass grafting), cardiopulmonary bypass, percutaneous coronary intervention (angioplasty/stenting), and hemodialysis. The test is performed at the bedside by adding a coagulation activator (like celite or kaolin) to a sample of the patient's blood and measuring the time to clot formation. The result is available in seconds to minutes, allowing the clinical team to adjust the heparin dose in real-time to prevent clotting in the extracorporeal circuit while minimizing bleeding risk.

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• loveness Phiri – 1084 pts

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