This article reviews the results of recent clinical studies on measuring lactate in arterial versus capillary blood. While arterial blood is the gold standard sample for lactate measurement on blood gas and other point-of-care analyzers, capillary blood is an alternative sample for lactate measurement on hand-held...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is defined as an abrupt decrease in kidney function evidenced by recent (within 48 hours) increase in serum creatinine concentration equal to or greater than 26.5 µmol/L (0.3 mg/dL). It can be a complication of many conditions that warrant hospital admission so it is common; up to 20 % of...

The gold standard sample for blood gas analysis is arterial blood. Compared with collection of venous or capillary blood, collection of arterial blood by arterial puncture is a painful procedure that can induce feelings of anxiety. The notion that this pain and anxiety could be a source of preanalytical error in blood ...

Procalcitonin (PCT) is a peptide (116 amino acids) precursor of the calcium-regulating thyroid hormone, calcitonin. Serum/plasma levels are very low (<0.1 ng/mL) or even undetectable in healthy individuals. However, in response to cytokine release during systemic inflammation, PCT synthesis increases in extra-thyroidal ...

As the authors of this review article acknowledge, chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing public health burden around the world. Recent study, cited by the authors, suggests an estimated 14 % of the US population are now diagnosed with CKD, and 0.2 % have end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the most severe presentation ...

The physiological stress response to critical illness and trauma determines that transiently raised blood glucose (hyperglycemia) is common among those admitted to intensive care, irrespective of their diabetes status. Much research has been directed at establishing whether or not intensive insulin therapy aimed at...

Measurement of serum lactate is increasingly being used in the assessment of emergency department (ED) patients. The prognostic significance of raised lactate (hyperlactatemia) at ED admission is the subject of a recent study conducted at the ED of a secondary and tertiary referral teaching hospital located in the...

This article discusses the use of a D-dimer assay in excluding venous thromboembolism (VTE) in outpatients. Together with a low pretest probability of VTE, a negative D-dimer test can rule out VTE in 30-50 % of suspected patient cases. The article highlights the importance of using a D-dimer assay with particular...

Monitoring patient acid-base status is one of three principal clinical utilities of blood gas analysis (the other two are monitoring patient oxygen and ventilation status). Three parameters generated during blood gas analysis (pH, pCO₂ and bicarbonate) allow this acid-base assessment and classification of all...

It is widely acknowledged that the majority of errors in clinical laboratory and point-of-care testing occur during the preanalytical phase. Blood collection (phlebotomy) is an element of the preanalytical phase particularly prone to potential error, so that adherence to authoritative (evidence-based) recommendations...