Prior to posting part 3 of the Brown conference I had to put Kimball Genetics on the Radar! The have devised a test to help with the scourge of Adverse Drug Reactions and Coumadin! Coumadin/Warfarin is designed to thin the blood and prevent clots causing stroke and pulmonary embolism. The test detects specific variations in the CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genes, the presence of which result in lower dose requirements for warfarin/coumadin. To help with implementation the nice people at Washington University, St Louis. The interactive website at warfarindosing.org has been developed by Brian F. Gage, MD,MSc, colleagues and is ideal for this purpose.
With every test their is the Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.
- The Bad? Turnaround time is a day. At the American College of Cardiology conference there was a claim of 1 hour turnaround time with an unspecified test!
- The Ugly? Will physicians know to advise patients of the familial implications of these tests? And will the 2 million plus people on coumadin be able to understand the counseling?
- The Good? This test is 99.9% sensitive and accounts for over 35% of coumadin metabolism variation
The Sherpa Says: I have to go tell it on the mountain....but I will be back to go over coumadin metabolism and this test in a finer detail. For now, hold tight and get some help with test interpretation if you plan to use it.
1 comment:
A recent working paper from AEI-Brookings Joint Center estimates that formally integrating genetic testing into routine warfarin therapy could allow American warfarin users to avoid 85,000 serious bleeding events and 17,000 strokes annually and save $1.1 billion annually. The full report is at www.healthanddna.com/warfarinsavings.pdf?pid=1127
I'm not sure about Kimball but our report has the warfarin dose estimated via DNA testing right on it so it is pretty easy to understand. And typically within /5 mg.
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