Printed from acutecaretesting.org
Articles
Showing all articles
Article
October 2016
Urea and creatinine concentration, the urea:creatinine ratio
This second of two articles on understanding the clinical value of measuring urea concentration explores the clinical value of simultaneous measurement of urea and creatinine and calculating the urea:creatinine ratio. The article discusses the causes of increased and decreased ratio as well as the clinical application ...
Creatinine/urea
Kidneys/fluids
Article
October 2016
Detection of bacterial infections using PCT and CRP in elderly emergency room patients
Bacterial infections are one of the major reasons for patients presenting to the ED - and the main cause of death in elderly patients. It is important to identify elderly patients with bacterial infections early and initiate treatment in the ED for a better outcome. However, an infection in an elderly patient can be...
Infection/sepsis
PCT
CRP
Article
August 2016
Urea and the clinical value of measuring blood urea concentration
This first of two articles on understanding the clinical value of measuring urea concentration dives into the physiological topics, such as urea production and renal processing of urea as well as the causes of increased and reduced urea concentration.
Kidney disease is associated with reduced urea excretion and...
Creatinine/urea
Kidneys/fluids
Article
August 2016
Procalcitonin used in the emergency room
For patients presenting to the ED with symptoms of a suspected infection, measuring procalcitonin (PCT) is a useful diagnostic tool to identify bacterial infections, such as sepsis, allowing for early initiation of proper antibiotic treatment.
In assessing the severity of sepsis, serum PCT levels are an important...
Infection/sepsis
Point-of-care testing
PCT
Article
May 2016
Statistical analysis in method comparison studies part one
This first of two articles on method comparison studies gives some key concepts related to the design of the method comparison study, data analysis and graphical presentation, stressing the importance of a well-designed and carefully planned experiment using adequate statistical procedures for data analysis when...
Quality assurance
Article
May 2016
D-dimer assays - pitfalls of analytical comparisons
When a new D-dimer method is evaluated, it’s typically compared to an established D-dimer method using both an analytical and a clinical comparison.
Analytical comparisons should be discouraged, as they do not give any useful information about the potential clinical usability of the assay. D-dimer assay comparisons...
D-dimer
Article
May 2016
Useful tips to avoid preanalytical errors in blood gas testing: pH, pCO2 and pO2
The measurement of the parameters pH, pCO2 and pO2 is vulnerable to a number of preanalytical errors and this article shares practical tips to help avoid these errors, ensuring that the results of analysis accurately reflect the patient’s acid-base and oxygenation status.
The tips include the removal of air bubbles, ...
Preanalytical phase
Quality assurance
Blood gases/acid-base
Article
January 2016
Temperature correction of blood gas and pH measurement - an unresolved controversy
The process of blood gas and pH measurement involves preheating the arterial blood sample to normal body temperature (37 °C) prior to measurement of pH, partial pressure of oxygen (pO2) and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2).
This ensures that results reflect in vivo temperature condition. A minority of...
Preanalytical phase
Blood gases/acid-base
Infection/sepsis
Article
January 2016
POCT: Taking control in uncontrolled premises, part 2
Point-of-care testing (POCT) covers a broad range of pathology and non-pathology testing. The volume of POCT is rapidly increasing with an annual growth rate of 12-15 %.
By virtue of its compactness, portability, and the feasibility of operation by non-laboratory personnel, where fast and accurate testing methods and...
Point-of-care testing
Process optimization
Quality assurance
Glucose
Hemoglobins
Article
October 2015
Pneumatic tube transport of blood samples – an update
The significance of good practice during the preanalytical phase of clinical laboratory investigation cannot be overemphasized. One aspect of the preanalytical phase – the transport of samples – is considered here; in particular the transport of samples via pneumatic tube systems.
This is an update of a previous...
Process optimization
Blood gases/acid-base
Preanalytical phase
Glucose
Hemoglobins