EKF Quo-Test® supports improved medical management of diabetic retinopathy patients

Cardiff, UK – 16th July 2019 – EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces that its Quo-Test®HbA1c analyzer is successfully supporting improved medical management of patients with sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR). The effectiveness of this point of care HbA1c testing application for rapid assessment of glycaemic control in eye clinic patients has been presented at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) annual congress in Glasgow. This follows the shortlisting of a study [1] undertaken by the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon, UK, for the 2019 RCOphth Sustainability Prize sponsored by Bausch+Lomb.

Diabetic eye disease is a leading cause of sight impairment in working age adults, and sight threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) patients have been found to often have poor knowledge and insight into their diabetic control. The study at the Great Western Hospital aimed to evaluate the clinical impact of measuring HbA1c in an Ophthalmology outpatient setting in patients with STDR. Using EKF’s Quo-Test to provide rapid HbA1c results from finger prick blood, the clinic concluded that POC HbA1c is a useful tool to improve patient education, as well as identify and rapidly refer those with poor diabetic control.

Shortlisted from a field of 198 abstracts accepted for presentation at the annual RCOphth College Congress, lead author Dr Sunil Mamtora, Specialty Registrar in Ophthalmology, Great Western Hospital, said, “We are delighted with the feedback that our study received, our study showed that POC HbA1c has a huge potential to improve the medical management of patients with diabetic retinopathy. There is also potential for monitoring in clinical trials to further evaluate links between glycaemic control and new diabetic eye disease therapies, such as intravitreal injection treatment for diabetic macular oedema.”

Dr Mamtora, explained how EKF’s Quo-Test POC HbA1c is a very useful tool now used routinely in Great Western Hospital eye clinics, “As it is a validated solution listed by NHS England, we chose to use Quo-Test to obtain a fast HbA1c result within our clinic. Following the success of our study, we now use it routinely to rapidly assess patients with poor diabetic control, or those who have not had HbA1c measured within the last 6 months, and we are considering referral to a diabetes specialist. If POC HbA1c is over 64mmol/mol then the diabetes clinic allows us to refer directly to them based on this validated POC result.”

Further benefits of receiving fast turnaround and lab accurate HbA1c results using Quo-Test were also noted by the study. These included the ability to educate patients with poorly controlled diabetes at the point of care and eliminate the need for follow up communication or visits. Being able to test, triage and refer directly to the diabetes clinic from Ophthalmology outpatients makes POC HbA1c an ideal screening tool to rapidly identify STDR patients who would benefit from intensified diabetes medical management.

Of the 198 abstracts accepted for the 2019 Royal College of Ophthalmologists Sustainability Prize sponsored by Bausch+Lomb, only 61 (31%) were considered to fulfil one of the seven steps to sustainability. These are interventions which prevent disease or morbidity, improve productivity, streamline pathways, reduce procurement costs or carbon dioxide emissions, educate and empower patients or healthcare professionals and facilitate more patient centred care. All were assessed on the overall quality of the project but also their contribution to hitting the triple bottom line of reduced financial, social and environmental costs (people, profits and planet). This strong field was narrowed down to a final 20 candidates for the prize, including the POC HbA1c testing at the Great Western Hospital eye clinic. 

The study poster can be viewed at: www.ekfdiagnostics.com/res/A0_hb1c.pdf. For more information on Quo-Test® see:www.ekfdiagnostics.com 

Reference:

  1. Mamtora, S. et al. (2019). Improving the medical management of patients with sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy.Poster presentation at RCOphth annual College Congress (May 2019).

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Link for this press release on EKF’s website: www.ekfdiagnostics.com/ekf-quo-test-in-diabetic-retinopathy-patients.html

Editors’ notes

About EKF Diagnostics www.ekfdiagnostics.com or www.ekfusa.com 

EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc, which includes the EKF Diagnostics, Stanbio Laboratory and DiaSpect brands, specializes in the development, production and worldwide distribution of point-of-care analyzers for use in the detection and management of diabetes and anemia, and also in sports and maternal medicine. EKF products are sold in more than 100 countries around the globe, through a network of specialist distributors.

Point-of-care diagnostics: EKF Diagnostics designs and manufactures world-class diagnostic devices, as well as distributing rapid test kits for infectious diseases and pregnancy. The EKF analyzer range is used widely in GP surgeries, pharmacies, blood banks, sports clinics, hospitals and laboratories for glucose, lactate, hemoglobin, hematocrit and HbA1c measurement.

Central laboratory: EKF, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Stanbio Laboratory (Boerne, Texas, USA), manufactures a comprehensive range of clinical chemistry reagents, as well as associated analyzers. In addition, EKF Life Sciences (Elkhart, Indiana, USA) manufactures enzymes used in reagent development and also provides contract fermentation facilities.

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