A Century of Progress.

Abstract

Anniversaries are natural moments to reflect on the passage of time—where we started, where we have been, where we are, and even where we are going. A 100th, or centurial, anniversary feels particularly momentous. Thus, as ASCP turns 100, it seemed appropriate to provide a retrospective on the enormous progress we have seen over a century of time in the field of pathology and laboratory medicine. To accomplish this, we asked members of our editorial boards to look back to the founding of the ASCP in 1922 and comment on the changes that have taken place in their specialties since then. Their outstanding essays are published on the Critical Values web site, and we highly recommend visiting them. Geoffrey Wool, MD, PhD, is Coagulation Associate Editor for American Journal of Clinical Pathology (AJCP). He describes how our understanding of hemostasis and thrombosis has evolved over the past 100 years. In 1922, Dr Wool points out, only 3 coagulation factors were known: calcium, thrombin, and fibrinogen. The traditional Roman numerology for the factors didn’t begin to be developed until 1943, and wasn’t formally adopted until 1959. The coagulation cascade with which we are all familiar was only completed in the 1960s. The prothrombin time test was first described in 1935 and the activated partial thromboplastin time assay was developed in 1953. Dr Wool concludes his essay with a comment on how unique features of COVID-19, including the limitations of conventional coagulation assays to predict thrombosis and the emergence of the novel entity of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, highlighted some limitations of our current understanding of the coagulation system. He ends with this observation: “As we look forward to another successful 100 years in the hemostasis field, we must remember that dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled laboratory professionals are the foundation of our work.”