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BMI The London Independent Hospital’s cardiology team today announced that it has become the first UK hospital to unveil Spartan RX, an all-in-one genetic test used to identify patients who are resistant to the blood-thinning drug, clopidogrel.
Patients who are resistant to clopidogrel, the second most prescribed medication in the world, are at an increased risk of suffering from recurrent heart problems, and sometimes heart attacks, following a cardiac stent procedure.
Spartan RX identifies the gene, CYP2C19*2, which is present in 30 per cent of the world’s population.
There is evidence that having this gene can impair the delivery of the blood thinning medication clopidogrel[i].
In the UK, around 85,000 patients each year have stents inserted into their diseased arteries to help restore blood flow to the heart.
