EKF Diagnostics’ Quo-Test® HbA1c analyser is successfully supporting improved medical management of patients with sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR). The effectiveness of point-of-care (POC) HbA1c testing 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, for the 2019 RCOphth Sustainability Prize sponsored by Bausch+Lomb.
The study evaluated the clinical impact of measuring HbA1c in an Ophthalmology outpatient setting in patients with STDR. EKF’s Quo-Test delivers 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 congress, lead author Dr Sunil Mamtora, Specialty Registrar in Ophthalmology, Great Western Hospital, said, “We are delighted with the feedback that our study received, showing 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.”
EKF Diagnostics' Quo-Test® point of care HbA1c analyser
EKF’s Quo-Test POC HbA1c is a validated solution listed by NHS England and now used routinely in Great Western Hospital eye clinics. The benefits of receiving fast turnaround and lab accurate HbA1c results include the ability to educate patients with poorly controlled diabetes at the point-of-care and eliminate 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.
The study poster can be viewed at: www.ekfdiagnostics.com/res/A0_hb1c.pdf.
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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