New Rapid Test for Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia

May 2, 2011 - PRLog -- JRBiomedical has announced the release of Milenia QuickLine HIT, a qualitative rapid test for the detection of IgG antibodies against platelet factor 4 (PF4)/ polyanion complex for the diagnosis of heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT).

HIT is a life-threatening syndrome occurring in up to 5% of patients being treated with heparin. HIT is caused by antibodies directed against a complex of platelet factor 4 (PF4) and polyanions such as heparin. There is evidence for a correlation between antibody concentration and clinical severity. Platelet activation and massively enhanced thrombin generation promotes venous and/ or arterial thromboembolism where the rate of severe patient injury and mortality is very high.

Excluding HIT antibodies is an important step towards selecting the most appropriate anticoagulation strategy. A study of 455 samples revealed a high degree of agreement of results with ELISA and the functional HIPA-Test. All HIT positive patients based on the functional assay were correctly identified. Milenia QuickLine HIT shows a tendency for less false positive results compared to IgG specific ELISA tests.

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JRBiomedical Ltd is a health care company, based in North Wales, specialising in the development of point of care medical equipment for use in hospitals and GP practices. For more information visit http://www.jrbiomedicaldiagnostics.co.uk