Determination of clopidogrel effect in cats using point-of-care Plateletworks ADP and shipped samples for PFA-200 analysis in a clinical practice setting

ObjectivesClopidogrel is the recommended first-line antithrombotic in cats for a variety of conditions; however, it is ineffective in 15–20% of cats. The determination of clopidogrel effectiveness with platelet function assays has historically been limited to specialty centers; however, recent work has suggested that in-hospital or shipped analyses of samples may be feasible. The aim of the present study was to investigate the utility of an in-house analysis and shipping of blood samples collected in primary practices for the determination of clopidogrel effectiveness.MethodsCitrated blood samples were collected from cats receiving clopidogrel therapy by veterinarians in clinical practices across Canada, a median of 304.4 km from the reference laboratory (range 8–4425). Samples were analyzed in-house using Plateletworks ADP and shipped for remote analysis using PFA-200 P2Y and COL/ADP cartridges.ResultsA total of 30 samples were collected from 25 cats. Of these, the percentage of samples analyzable for the presence or absence of the clopidogrel effect was 86% for Plateletworks ADP, 90% for PFA-200 P2Y and 87% for PFA-200 COL/ADP. There was no significant difference in the number of samples unable to be analyzed by each modality ( P = 0.689) due to flow obstruction or other sample characteristics. The prevalence of absence of clopidogrel effectiveness on platelet function assays was 8% with the PFA-200 COL/ADP assay, 25% with the PFA-200 P2Y assay and 30% with the Plateletworks ADP assay.Conclusions and relevanceThe results of this study confirm that samples of feline blood can be collected in clinical practices and shipped to a reference laboratory for PFA-200 analysis with a high rate of success, comparable to point-of-care analysis.