A Medicare rebate is available for this test if the patient meets the following criteria: - Patient has a personal history of a proven venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism OR - Patient has a first degree relative who has been proven to have a mutation. If the patient does not meet either criteria then the test will be billed at $60 non-MBS to patient.
This test is performed by a PCR technique that detects the Prothrombin G20210A mutation and Factor V G1691A mutation simultaneously.
The prothrombin G20210A variation, may act through an unexplained increase in plasma prothrombin levels. The prevalence of the mutated allele in the study by Poort et al. Blood was 6.3% among venous thrombosis cases, and 2.3% in controls, indicating a carrier odds ratio for thrombosis of 2.8.