Biochemical and hematological analyses are done in laboratories, clinics, general practices and in point-of-care settings such as ITU.  Generally, numerical test results are generated.   Test results vary in individuals over time due to preanalytical variation, analytical imprecision and biological variation. The...

A specimen for clinical laboratory testing must be properly collected from the correct patient at the correct time with proper patient preparation, and the right test must be performed for answering the right question. Quality in the preanalytical phase of laboratory activity can be assured by implementing a quality...

To assess anemia and reduced oxygen-carrying capacity, a measurement of hematocrit and/or hemoglobin is performed. Whether hemoglobin or hematocrit is preferred depends on different needs and is often determined by tradition.  Both hematocrit and hemoglobin are important hematology parameters for diagnosing...

50-75 % of all newborns develop jaundice during their first week of life [1,2,3]. The decision behind which treatment is necessary and when it should be initiated is based upon a measurement of the concentration of total bilirubin (ctBil) in serum, plasma or whole blood.  It is therefore obvious that it is important...

Point-of-care testing (POCT) is one of the most rapidly growing areas within laboratory medicine. The need for POCT has developed because in many cases the central laboratory has been unable to meet the expectations of clinical users, particularly with respect to turnaround time. It is widely recognized that...

Every POCT program today struggles with providing a solid program that is error free.  Each program must be designed to fit the needs of the organization, so having the right people in key positions is important. Additionally, training and competency programs are necessary so that each POCT operator understands the...

Numerous method comparison studies of blood gas analyzer methods have been published in the literature; unfortunately, several studies show flaws in one or several aspects of experimental design, execution, statistical analysis or interpretation of results. The most common flaw seems to be an inability to separate...

In the U.S. all clinical laboratory determinations, including blood gas testing performed at point of care (POC) or in the central laboratory, is regulated by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA).  Congress passed CLIA to ensure accurate, reliable, and timely test results regardless of...

External Quality Assessment (EQA) in medical laboratories have evolved over the past 50 years to provide more sophisticated systems compared with the simple participants’ analytical performance evaluation of earlier years.  There are clear distinctions between the proficiency testing schemes and the evolved External...

Measurement of glucose and lactate after 30 minutes of storage at room temperature can give deviating results of up to 5 % [1,2] and 29 % of the reference value [3] respectively [1,4], due to in vitro glycolysis Glucose and lactate are both important parameters in the surveillance of patients in critical care...