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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Sep 16.
Published in final edited form as: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014 Sep 16;64(11):1128–1139. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2014.05.065

TABLE 6.

Suggestions for Laboratory Measurement of Target-specific Oral Anticoagulant Agents

Drug Clinical Objective
Determine Whether Clinically Relevant Below On-therapy Drug Levels are Present Estimate Drug Levels Within On-therapy Range Determine Whether Above On-therapy Drug Levels are Present
Suggested Test Interpretation Suggested Test Interpretation Suggested Test Interpretation
Dabigatran TT A normal TT likely excludes clinically relevant drug levels Dilute TT, ECA, ECT - APTT, Dilute TT, ECA, ECT A normal APTT likely excludes excess drug levels. Only dilute TT, ECA, and ECT are suitable for quantitation.
Rivaroxaban Anti-Xa Normal anti-Xa activity likely excludes clinically relevant drug levels Anti-Xa - Anti-Xa, PT A normal PT likely excludes excess drug levels. Only anti-Xa is suitable for quantitation.
Apixaban Anti-Xa Normal anti-Xa activity likely excludes clinically relevant drug levels Anti-Xa - Anti-Xa -

Suggestions for laboratory measurement of the anticoagulant activity of dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban based on clinical objective. Typical on-therapy drug levels are shown in Table 1. Abbreviations as in Table 2.