Plateletworks^® as a Point-of-Care Test for ASA Non-Sensitivity

• Main Authors: Hamzah Khan, Shubha Jain, Reid C. Gallant, Muzammil H. Syed, Abdelrahman Zamzam, Mohammed Al-Omran, Margaret L. Rand, Heyu Ni, Rawand Abdin, Mohammad Qadura
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Journal of Personalized Medicine
• Subjects: aspirin; resistance; non-sensitivity; antiplatelet; atherosclerosis; light transmission aggregometry
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/11/8/813

Aspirin (ASA) therapy is proven to be effective in preventing adverse cardiovascular events; however, up to 30% of patients are non-sensitive to their prescribed ASA dosage. In this pilot study, we demonstrated, for the first time, how ASA non-sensitivity can be diagnosed using Plateletworks^®, a point-of-care platelet function test. Patients prescribed 81 mg of ASA were recruited in a series of two successive phases—a discovery phase and a validation phase. In the discovery phase, a total of 60 patients were recruited to establish a cut-off point (COP) for ASA non-sensitivity using Plateletworks^®. Each sample was simultaneously cross-referenced with a light transmission aggregometer (LTA). Our findings demonstrated that >52% maximal platelet aggregation using Plateletworks^® had a sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio of 80%, 70%, and 2.67, respectively, in predicting ASA non-sensitivity. This COP was validated in a secondary cohort of 40 patients prescribed 81 mg of ASA using Plateletworks^® and LTA. Our data demonstrated that our established COP had a 91% sensitivity and 69% specificity in identifying ASA non-sensitivity using Plateletworks^®. In summary, Plateletworks^® is a point-of-care platelet function test that can appropriately diagnose ASA non-sensitive patients with a sensitivity exceeding 80%.