Electronic Journal of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine最新文献

Background-aim: Creatine kinase (CK) and aldolase are markers traditionally used in the study of muscle damage (MD). As CK determination is more specific to muscle damage, the demand for both determinations in routine laboratory tests would entail an extra cost.

Methods: Retrospective observational study conducted between 2019-2020. CK and aldolase concentrations from 218 patients were studied.ROC curves were analyzed for CK and aldolase for muscle damage detection. Cut-off values were selected for both strategies. Specifity of CK and aldolase for dermatomyositis or polymyositis diagnosis in our population was studied using the McNemar's test.

Results: The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for total CK was 0.716 (95%CI: 0.651-0.775), for CK in males it was 0.703 (95%CI: 0.592-0.799), and for CK in females was 0.719 (95%CI: 0.636-0.793). For aldolase, AUC was 0.505 (95%CI: 0.437-0.573). Optimized cut-off points for each determination were: 112 U/L for CK in men, with a sensitivity of 73.9% (95%CI: 51.6-89.8) and a specificity of 49.2% (95%CI: 35.9-62.5); 88 U/L for CK in women, with a sensitivity of 75.0% (95%CI: 57.8-87.9) and specificity of 50.5% (95%CI: 40.4-60.6); and 5.6 U/L for aldolase, with a sensitivity of 61.0% (95%CI: 53.2-68.8) and a specificity of 38.8% (95%CI: 26.5-52.6).Regarding the individuals diagnosed with dermatomyositis or polymyositis, 66.7% and 44.4% of them were correctly classified as pathological by CK and aldolase results, respectively. McNemar's test did not reveal significant differences.

Conclusion: The determination of CK offers a better diagnostic performance of MD and, in addition, does not present significant differences regarding the determination of aldolase in cases of polymyositis and dermatomyositis. Therefore, the single determination of CK would be sufficient for MD screening.

Early detection of biliary atresia is crucial for timely intervention and improved outcomes in infants with elevated conjugated bilirubin levels. This study aims to investigate the viability of cord blood gas analysis as a novel method for assessing conjugated bilirubin levels. Infants with high heel stick levels also showed elevated cord blood bilirubin levels, indicating that cord blood testing could replace the need for repeat heel stick tests, especially benefiting low birth weight infants. Ongoing research, including larger cohorts and alternative bilirubin measurement methods, will further validate this innovative screening approach. Infants with biliary atresia have high conjugated bilirubin levels at birth. As a result, infants can be screened with newborn conjugated bilirubin measurements, to allow for early detection, timely treatment, and the best chances of delaying or even avoiding the need for a liver transplant [1]. An important limitation of screening, however, is that infants must undergo a separate blood test. To overcome this limitation, we investigated whether conjugated bilirubin measurements from cord blood could be useful.

Background: BD Barricor^™ tubes have been proposed to decrease laboratory turnaround time (TAT). We analytically validated and then clinically verified these tubes for use with Abbott Alinity^™ and Siemens Atellica^® highly sensitive cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) assays.

Methods: hs-cTnI measurements were undertaken in paired Barricor^™ and in-use PSTII^™ tubes on both systems. 359 matched samples with hs-cTnI levels between 3 and 15,000 ng/L (Atellica^® values) were used to assess the hemolysis rate and make method comparisons. 599 paired patient samples were collected on emergency department (ED) admission to compare the performance of the rapid acute myocardial infarction (AMI) rule-out strategy based on hs-cTnI concentrations lower than recommended thresholds (<4 ng/L Alinity^™; <5 ng/L Atellica^®) when different tubes and systems were employed.

Results: No between-tube differences in hemolysis rate were seen when free hemoglobin concentrations in plasma samples were ≥0.25 g/L, even if PSTII^™ showed a significant increase of hemolysis rate vs. Barricor^™ (31% vs. 22%, p=0.007) when a lower cut-off for hemolysis (≥0.11 g/L) was employed on the Atellica^® detection system. The alternate use of these tubes did not influence the hs-cTnI results obtained from either of the two assays, which remained markedly biased (~40%) irrespective of the tube used. The expected optimal ability of very low hs-cTnI values on ED admission for ruling out AMI was confirmed by using both systems regardless of the tube type.

Conclusions: Barricor^™ and PSTII^™ tubes can provide analytically equivalent hs-cTnI results when used on either Alinity^™ or Atellica^® hs-cTnI assays.

The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is one of the parameters that have been used in assessing insulin resistance. Triglycerides and fasting blood glucose are two low-cost, common laboratory indicators that are used to compute the TyG index. This article reviews the link between the TyG index and several aspects concerning insulin resistance-related disorders and cardiovascular disease, as well as the use of various TyG index cutoffs in the above conditions with sensitivity and specificity, respectively, in various populations in the world.

A business intelligence (BI) tool in a laboratory workflow offers various benefits, including data consolidation, real-time monitoring, process optimization, cost analysis, performance benchmarking (quality indicators), predictive analytics, compliance reporting, and decision support. These tools improve operational efficiency, quality control, inventory management, cost analysis, and clinical decision-making. This write up reveals the workflow process and implementation of BI in a private hospital laboratory. By identifying challenges and overcoming them, laboratories can utilize the power of BI and analytics solutions to accelerate healthcare performance, lower costs, and improve care quality. We used navify (Viewics) as a BI platform which relies on an infinity data warehouse for analytics and dashboards. We applied it for pre-analytic, analytic and post-analytic phases in laboratory. We conclude, digitalization is crucial for innovation and competitiveness, enhancing productivity, efficiency, and flexibility in future laboratories.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent type of dementia. Pathologically, the disease is marked by neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), which are aberrant accumulations of the tau protein that develop inside neurons, and extracellular plaque deposits of the amyloid β peptide (Aβ). These pathological lesions are present in the brain before the beginning of clinical manifestations. However, despite advancements in the comprehension of AD pathophysiology, timely and accurate clinical diagnosis remains challenging. Therefore, developing biomarkers capable of detecting AD during the preclinical phase holds enormous promise for precise diagnosis since detecting the disease early is crucial because it enables interventions when treatments may be more effective. This article intends to provide a comprehensive review of AD biomarkers, discussing their significance, classification, and recent developments in the field.

Background: The rise of virtual media has expanded to various fields and the medical profession has not been immune to its influence. The purpose of our study was to analyse and evaluate the impact of virtual social networks, on the professional growth and career progression of Pathology residents.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken at the section of Chemical Pathology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi. An online, questionnaire based on google forms was sent via WhatsApp application to the Pathology residents (n = 30) from July to August 2023. The anonymity of the participants was maintained. The statistical analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel 2019.

Results: A total of 25 (83%) Pathology residents participated in the survey. 72% of the participants were females and 28% were males. Chemical Pathology residents constituted the largest proportion at 44%, followed by 24% from Hematology, 24% from Microbiology and 8% from Histopathology. 60% of the trainees acknowledged using social media platforms routinely for professional development. The most used social media platforms were YouTube (48%), Twitter (36%), Facebook (12%) and Instagram (4%). Social media network was perceived the most useful in increasing understanding regarding the profession (60%), strengthening the proficiency in problem-solving (56%) and enhancing critical thinking abilities (52%) whereas it was regarded as somewhat useful in enhancing clinical/professional decision-making skills (52%) and clinical expertise (60%).

Conclusion: Social media is gaining popularity in the realm of medicine and this survey reveals the perspective of Pathology residents on the social media networks and its growing impact on their professional growth.

Background/aims: Only a few studies have addressed the role of NT-proBNP in identifying Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (LVSD) in South Asian populations. Therefore, the current study was aimed at assessing the use of serum NT-proBNP in predicting LVSD in a hospitalized population in Sri Lanka.

Methods: A random sample of 278 individuals referred for echocardiography at a major Teaching Hospital consented for venous blood samples to be collected for serum NT-proBNP assay by sandwich ELISA. Based on the ejection fraction (LVEF) and fractional shortening (FS), participants were differentiated as LVSD (LVEF<50%, FS≤ 29%) and non-LVSD individuals (LVEF>60%). According to inclusion/exclusion criteria, the final study sample consisted of 100 LVSD patients and 41 non-LVSD individuals.

Results: The mean ages of the LVSD and non-LVSD groups were 69.1 (±6.2 years) and 71.4 (±2.4 years) (p=0.066) respectively. The median NT-proBNP value (with IQR) among LVSD patients (528.2 pg/mL,355.2-924.2) was comparatively higher than that of non-LVSD individuals (207.3 pg/mL,177.5-343.0). Strong correlations of NT-proBNP level with LVEF (Spearman rho= -0.84, p<0.001) and FS (rho= -0.81, p<0.001) suggested that serum NT-proBNP concentration increases in parallel to deteriorating left ventricular functions. The AUROC of serum NT-proBNP for differentiating LVSD was 0.859 (95% CI:0.79 - 0.92) and the optimal cut-off level for predicting LVSD was 265pg/mL, with 90% sensitivity and 70% specificity.

Conclusion: Current Sri Lankan study revealed a considerable correlation of serum NT-proBNP level with LVSD and utilizing such an assay for screening will facilitate adequate evidence to rule-out LVSD among high-risk residents.