The case of neutropenia?
By Dr. Ami Neuberger
Mrs. L has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is 78 years old, and leaves in an apartment block 15 minutes away from the nearest healthcare clinic. Her first chemotherapy treatment was generally uneventful, and so was the second. A few days after the third chemotherapy cycle she had a fever, but was otherwise fine. Does Mrs. L have just a bit of fever, or is her fever accompanied by a very low white blood cell count (neutropenia)? These are two different scenarios: with a bit of fever “she could handle it”, but if she has neutropenia she needs to be rapidly assessed by a physician and treated with broad spectrum antibiotics.
With the use of EFa’s new RevDx system her complete blood count could be performed in her apartment by any medical employee with minimal training. The device does not require any human intervention to perform the test, and results are available within seconds, saving valuable time. The RevDx system could be used in the care of many similar patients who need blood count monitoring, but find it difficult to go to a clinic for each test. For patients with chronic diseases or advanced age, the performance of complete blood count at home could make the difference between obtaining results within seconds, and between not even performing the needed tests.