18A131

A Comparison between a point of care uric acid testing meter and the standard laboratory serum uricase method.

Author(s)

Sundanum Sonia, Carey John

Department(s)/Institutions

Rheumatology Department, Merlin Park Hospital and University Hospital Galway

Introduction

Gout is a common and increasing cause of acute and chronic arthritis; responsible for significant use of resources due to hospital admissions for acute attacks.
Sustained low levels of serum uric acid (SUA) is a key factor in lowering flare ups of gout. 1

Laboratories in hospitals use the most common method for identifying SUA, this is based on the use of the enzyme uricase. 2

A point of care (POC) test meter that provides reliable and instant SUA could potentially improve patient care through more frequent SUA monitoring. Such a device could allow rapid adjustments to drug therapy and enable SUA targets to be reached an maintained as recommended by international guidelines. 3

Aims/Background

We aimed to compare the precision and accuracy of a commercially available POC test meter to the standard accredited uricase laboratory assay that is commonly used in practice to determine SUA.

Method

A commercially available uric acid POC (Humasens Plus ) was used. Patients attending the rheumatology clinic had serum uric acid tested by the standard laboratory uricase method, and each patient had 2 finger prick blood samples taken and SUA measured using the POC.
A single batch of manufecturer test strips were used.
SUA results from the lab uricase method and from the POC for each patient were then compared.

Results

11 patients were recruited and had SUA measured via the lab uricase method. A total number of 22 finger prick test samples were obtained from 11 patients.
The HumaSens meter had a high coefficient of varation CV of 64.1%. There was no instance where the HumaSens meter provided SUA that was in concordance with the laboratory uricase test.
Only one patient had the same reading on their 2 separate finger pricks using the POC (9.1%).

Conclusions

The HumaSens was overall easy to use. However it demonstrated a high CV of 64.1% which is not acceptable and would not allow for reliable SUA monitoring. Therefore we do not recommend using this POC in the management of gout.

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