Does VerifyNow change practice
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Does the assessment of platelet function using the VerifyNow system change clinical practice in stroke and Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) patients
IRAS ID
252185
Contact name
David L Cohen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Antiplatelet drugs such as Aspirin or Clopidogrel are in common use to prevent further strokes in people who have had a stroke before. Most stroke patients are on one of these drugs. There is now evidence that not all people respond to these drugs in the same way. In some it is related to their weight and others have inherited a different way of handling the drugs. This means that routine treatment may not be effective. The VerifyNow system is an analyser that tests a blood sample to see whether antiplatelet drugs are having the desired effect. We want to see whether using this system routinely would change our standard of care. We plan to study two groups:
Group 1: inpatients After informed consent, a blood test using the VerifyNow system will be carried out 24 hours before discharge or earlier if the patient is already on their planned discharge medicines. The effectiveness of whichever antiplatelet agent they are taking will be assessed.
Group 2: outpatients Patients attending the stroke clinic on stable antiplatelet treatment will be tested using the appropriate test. Their self-reported medicine adherence will be assessed using the Morisky MMAS-8 questionnaire.
2ml blood will be taken. The standard VerifyNow procedure will be followed where the sample will be allowed to stand for at least 30 but no more than 240 minutes before the test is performed. The appropriate test will be done according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
If the identifies that the current antiplatelet treatment is ineffective treatment will be changed to the alternative standard of care before discharge or in the clinic. The proportion of patients in whom the treatment is changed will be recorded.REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1974
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jan 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion