[4] (link). It was used by the participating laboratories without deviation from the original Sebia assay protocol. In brief, citrated plasma samples were analyzed on the Hydrasys 2 instrument (Sebia, France) with ready to use SDS agarose gels (Hydragel 5 von Willebrand multimers, Sebia). Densitometry of VWF multimer patterns was carried out with a transmission scanner (Sebia Gelscan Instrument) which allows scanning and data storage of the results. Data acquisition is performed by a bidimensional calibrated CCD sensor. The instrument, when connected to a PC with the Sebia PHORESIS software, allowed the operator to display the gel images, curves, curves overlapping, and quantification of multimer band patterns according to the manufacturer recommendation (LMWM 1-3 bands; IMWM 4-7 bands; and HMWM 8th band and above).
The percentage values of each molecular weight multimer fraction was provided by the software. The calculation was made by applying the ratio of the area of each fraction and the total area under the curve. The multimer patterns of the plasma samples studied were, if necessary, compared with the reference pool pattern analyzed on the same gel. The total area under the curve of each sample was directly proportional to the amount of antigen (VWF:Ag).