Thromb Haemost 2011; 106(06): 1197-1202
DOI: 10.1160/TH11-06-0390
New Technologies, Diagnostic Tools and Drugs
Schattauer GmbH

Evaluation of a new nanoparticle-based lateral-flow immunoassay for the exclusion of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT)

Ulrich J. Sachs
1   Institute for Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
,
Jakob von Hesberg
1   Institute for Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
,
Sentot Santoso
1   Institute for Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
,
Gregor Bein
1   Institute for Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
,
Tamam Bakchoul
1   Institute for Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 10 June 2011

Accepted after major revision: 20 August 2011

Publication Date:
27 November 2017 (online)

Summary

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an adverse complication of heparin caused by HIT antibodies (abs) that recognise platelet factor 4-heparin (PF4/hep) complexes. Several laboratory tests are available for the confirmation and/or refutation of HIT. A reliable and rapid singlesample test is still pending. It was the objective of this study to evaluate a new lateral-flow immunoassay based on nanoparticle technology. A cohort of 452 surgical and medical patients suspected of having HIT was evaluated. All samples were tested in two IgG-specific ELISAs, in a particle gel immunoassay (PaGIA) and in a newly developed lateral-flow immunoassay (LFI-HIT) as well as in a functional test (HIPA). Clinical pre-test probability was determined using 4T's score. Platelet-activating antibodies were present in 34/452 patients, all of whom had intermediate to high clinical probability. PF4/hep abs were detected in 79, 87, 86, and 63 sera using the four different immunoassays. The negative predictive values (NPV) were 100% for both ELISA tests and LFI-HIT but only 99.2% for PaGIA. There were less false positives (n=29) in the LFI-HIT compared to any other test. Additionally, significantly less time was required to perform LFI-HIT than to perform the other immunoassays. In conclusion, a newly developed lateral-flow assay, LFI-HIT, was capable of identifying all HIT patients in a cohort in a short period of time. Beside an NPV of 100%, the rate of false-positive signals is significantly lower with LFI-HIT than with other immunoassay(s). These performance characteristics suggest a high potency in reducing the risk and costs in patients suspected of having HIT.

 
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