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, ...

This recently published case study report provides a reminder that blood gas analysis plays an important role in the emergency room assessment of unconscious patients and that disturbance of acid-base homeostasis can be attributable to ingestion of toxic chemicals. The case concerns a 37-year old non-insulin dependant ...

The importance of monitoring blood glucose concentration of premature babies in the hours and days following birth is highlighted by this recently published clinical study. Although it is well established that prematurity is associated with increased risk of both hyperglycemia (increased blood glucose) and...

Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is the biomarker of choice for diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes (myocardial infarction (MI) and unstable angina). The cardiac muscle cell (myocyte) necrosis, consequent on ischemia that characterises MI, results in release of troponins from necrosed cardiac myocytes to blood and rising...

Blood gas analysis involves measurement of three parameters: pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂) and partial pressure of oxygen (pO₂). Derived (calculated from these measured values) parameters also generated during blood gas analysis include: bicarbonate (HCO₃) concentration, base excess (BE) and oxygen...

The maintenance of blood pH within normal limits (7.35-7.45), called acid-base homeostasis, is a complex synergy involving three organs (lungs, kidneys and brain) as well as chemical buffers in blood and blood cells (erythrocytes). This vital physiologic process is the subject of a recent expert review article,...

The D-dimer blood test is a clinical laboratory test that is also increasingly available at the point of care, most often the hospital emergency room. Over the past decade or so the test has become established for emergency room assessment of patients suspected of suffering deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism,...

Health demands that blood pH is maintained within narrow limits (7.35-7.45). Acidosis (i.e. pH <7.35) is a common feature of many acute/critical conditions that warrant admission to intensive care. pH <6.8 is commonly reported in medical texts as incompatible with life, but there are rare individual case reports of...

A clinical requirement for determination of the pH and base deficit (BD) of umbilical-cord arterial blood has ensured a role for the blood gas analyzer in the delivery suite of obstetric units.  The principal objective of this testing in the minutes immediately after birth is to identify those babies who have been...

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...