The necessary administration of image-enhancing agents to patients prior to radiological investigation is associated with risk of two serious adverse effects: nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) and contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN). The risk only applies to those patients with renal disease, either acute kidney...

For a number of years point-of-care blood lactate measurement has been used to predict outcome for patients suffering a range of critical illnesses. Now a recently published study suggests that this predictive value of lactate measurement can also be usefully applied to very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) neonates born...

Emergency departments (ED) are challenged by increasing patient visits, overcrowding and prolonged length of stay (LOS). The cause of these problems is multifactorial. Delays in the laboratory are often perceived as contributing to delays in care and increased LOS. Implementation of selected point-of-care tests in...

Various guidelines and recommendations are available for the use of natriuretic peptides in the diagnosis of heart failure. As it is known that old age may lead to higher natriuretic peptide values in the absence of heart failure, it is relevant to decide whether to use age-dependent reference intervals for clinical...

Modern blood gas analyzers often have incorporated sensor technology that allows measurement of plasma lactate concentration. In nature lactate exists in two isoforms: L-lactate and D-lactate.  In all vertebrates, including humans, the L-lactate form is by far the most abundant and pathophysiologically significant,...

Anemia, which is defined as hemoglobin (Hb) concentration The kidneys are essential to the regulation of red-cell production and thereby maintenance of normal Hb concentration because the hormone erythropoietin, which regulates red-cell production, is synthesized in the kidneys. The usually normochromic, normocytic...

Blood gas analysis (BGA) provides the means for the most accurate assessment of patient oxygenation status; the two relevant blood gas parameters being partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (pO₂(a)), and % hemoglobin oxygen saturation (sO₂(a)).  Pulse oximetry, a technology now ubiquitous in all areas of...

Increased serum bilirubin, clinically manifest as jaundice, is very common during the first week of life, affecting around 60 % of full-term babies and 85 % of babies born prematurely. For the vast majority this neonatal jaundice is a mild transitory phenomenon with no long-term consequences. The greatest fear...

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are currently identified by incidental imaging or ultrasound screening. The potential diagnostic and prognostic value of D-dimer for AAA was assessed in this study. 1260 men from a population-based ultrasound screening study were included, of which 299 had small AAAs monitored by...

Patients with sepsis, severe sepsis and/or septic shock are at increased risk of death and organ dysfunction.  While morbidity and mortality of patients with severe traumatic injury, acute myocardial infarction or stroke have been significantly reduced during recent years by the implementation of well-coordinated...