Amikacin and Quinidine Added to Drug Monitoring Menu

A therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) test menu has been expanded to include two new assays, one for Amikacin, and the other for Quinidine.

TDM assays enable clinicians to measure specific drugs at intervals, in order to maintain a relatively constant drug concentration in the bloodstream. Therapeutic drugs tend to have a narrow therapeutic range--meaning that the quantity required to be effective is not far from the quantity that causes significant side effects and/or toxicity.

The QMS (Quantitative Microsphere System) Amikacin assay measures aminoglycoside concentrations in human serum or plasma to guide and monitor dosing regimens of Amikacin, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections. The QMS Quinidine assay measures concentrations of the drug Quinidine in human plasma or serum. Quinidine is a major antiarrhythmic agent used to treat and prevent arrhythmias. Careful monitoring of this drug is important due to its narrow therapeutic index and similarity in patient response to subtherapeutic and toxic amounts of the drug.

The QMS Amikacin and QMS Quinidine assays are manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA, USA) and distributed by Beckman Coulter (Nyon, Switzerland) as part of its broad menu of automated chemistry assays. Beckman Coulter's chemistry test menu offers more than 100 analytes for routine chemistry, STAT, and specialty testing, including panels for lipid, cardiac, therapeutic drug monitoring, drugs of abuse and thyroid testing.

Reagents and calibrators for both new assays are liquid and ready-to-use, which helps laboratory staff save time by eliminating the need for mixing, hydrating, or prediluting reagents before testing.

The TDM assays, available through Beckman Coulter, are specifically engineered and packaged to provide speed, accuracy, ease-of-use, and economy for the most effective TDM analysis. Used in conjunction with a UniCel or Synchron platform, these assays provide timely, reliable, and efficient TDM results.

Related Links:
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Beckman Coulter