ABBOTT PARK, Ill., April 30, 2015
/PRNewswire/ -- Women account for nearly 60 percent of visits to
emergency departments (ED) in the United
States.1 In emergency situations, it is critical
for doctors to know the pregnancy status of women who are of
childbearing age as soon as possible, since this influences
decision-making when it comes to medications, imaging, surgery and
other clinical care.
Traditionally, clinicians rely on urine-based pregnancy testing,
but collecting a sample from a woman in an emergency setting can be
difficult, especially if she is dehydrated, in pain or even
unconscious.
Now, a simple new blood test, known as the
i-STAT® Total β-hCG, can rapidly and accurately
help detect the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone that is
usually used to determine whether a woman is pregnant. The test,
which received U.S. FDA clearance, can detect if a woman is in the
early stages of pregnancy by measuring very low levels of hCG in
blood on Abbott's i-STAT® System, a handheld,
portable blood analyzer. By using two to three drops of
blood, the test can provide high-quality results at a person's
bedside within 10 minutes.
"During a medical emergency, every minute matters," said
Scott Pennington, RN, BSN, director
of Critical Care Services at Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center in
Panama City, Florida. "A fast
blood test to help determine if a woman is pregnant can help
doctors and nurses quickly decide appropriate care, which could
potentially save lives."
Unlike urine testing, Abbott's β-hCG test can measure hCG in
whole blood or plasma. By providing results quickly, the test can
streamline a doctor's decision-making process, which can be vital
in emergency situations.
The i-STAT® Total β-hCG test not only provides
qualitative results that determine whether hCG hormone is present
in the blood, but also quantitative results that specify the amount
of hCG present. This information may help identify how far along a
woman is in pregnancy while potentially reducing false-negative
results by being more sensitive. This is important as data have
shown that urine pregnancy tests are susceptible to false-negative
results2,3,4.
"In today's health care environment, clinicians are faced with a
growing number of people who are seeking care," said Sharon Bracken, vice president, Point of Care
Diagnostics, Abbott. "Abbott's β-hCG blood test serves as a new
tool to help physicians determine pregnancy status quickly and
accurately, right at the bedside, to help provide quality
treatment."
In addition to the U.S., the blood test is available in
Canada, Europe, the Middle
East, South Africa,
Australia and New Zealand. It is fully compatible with the
handheld i-STAT® 1 System and the
i-STAT® 1 Wireless System, which are already used
in nearly 60 percent of U.S. hospitals to help improve care.
About Abbott Point of
Care:
Abbott Point of Care is
headquartered in Princeton, N.J.,
and develops, manufactures and markets critical medical diagnostic
and data management products for rapid blood analysis. The
company's premier product is the i-STAT® System,
a market-leading handheld device capable of performing a broad menu
of tests, including cardiac markers; blood gases; coagulation;
lactate; chemistries/electrolytes; and hematology, using two or
three drops of blood at the patient's side.
Visit Abbott Point of Care at
www.abbottpointofcare.com.
About Abbott:
Abbott (NYSE: ABT) is a global health care company devoted
to improving life through the development of products and
technologies that span the breadth of health care. With a portfolio
of leading, science-based offerings in diagnostics, medical
devices, nutritionals and branded generic pharmaceuticals, Abbott
serves people in more than 150 countries and employs approximately
73,000 people.
Visit Abbott at www.abbott.com and connect with us on Twitter at
@AbbottNews.
1 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey:
2011 Emergency Department Summary Tables. Emergency Department
Visits. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Website:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/emergency-department.htm. Accessed:
April 15, 2015.
2 Griffey RT et al. Hook-like effect causes
false-negative point-of-care urine pregnancy testing in emergency
patients. J Emerg Med. 2013;44(1):155-160.
3 Nerenz RD et al. Screening method to evaluate
point-of-care human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) devices for
susceptibility to the hook effect by hCG ß core fragment:
evaluation of 11 devices. Clin
Chem. 2014;60(4):667-674.
4 Greene DN et al. Limitations in qualitative point
of care hCG tests for detecting early pregnancy. Clin Chim Acta. 2013;415:317-321.
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SOURCE Abbott