Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry
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Survivin in pleural effusion is a promising marker for the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion. ⋯ Survivin in pleural effusion has potential diagnostic value with advanced sensitivity and specificity and it can be used as adjunct tool for non-invasive diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion.
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Review Case Reports
Misdiagnosis of two cases of hereditary spherocytosis in a family and review of published reports.
Hereditary spherocytosis is usually diagnosed based on a combination of clinical and family histories, physical examination, and laboratory data. Milder or atypical cases can be difficult to diagnose. ⋯ Mild and moderate hereditary spherocytosis can be easily misdiagnosed. Assessment of total, direct, and indirect serum bilirubin, erythrocyte morphology and red cell characteristics (particularly mean corpuscular volume and mean sphered corpuscular volume) clearly distinguishes hereditary spherocytosis from autoimmune hemolytic anemia, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, thalassemia, and autoimmune hepatitis.
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Comparative Study
Evaluation of two methods to measure hemoglobin concentration among women with genetic hemoglobin disorders in Cambodia: a method-comparison study.
Genetic hemoglobin (Hb) E variants are common in Cambodia and result in an altered and unstable Hb molecule. We evaluated two methods to measure Hb concentration among individuals with and without Hb variants using a hemoglobinometer (HemoCue) and a hematology analyzer (Sysmex XT-1800i). ⋯ Bias and concordance were similar across groups, suggesting the two methods of Hb measurement were comparable. We caution field staff, researchers and policy makers in the interpretation of data and the impact that bias between methods can have on anemia prevalence rates.
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Post-operative prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is the most common cause of failure of total joint arthroplasty, requiring revision surgery, but a gold standard for the diagnosis and the treatment of PIJ is still lacking. PJI is mainly due to Gram-positive bacteria, in particular, Staphylococcus Aureus, and more rarely by Gram-negative bacteria such as Pseudomonas. This study aimed to examine the diagnostic value of SuPAR in post-operative PJI, in order to explore the possible application of this new biomarker in the early diagnosis of PJI. ⋯ Serum suPAR displayed a strongly significative increase in PJI patients compared to not infected controls, and a significative positive correlation with C-reactive protein, IL-6, IL-1 and TNFα and the chemokine CCL2. Also serum CCL2 showed statistically significative increase in PJI patients, and it displayed a strong positive correlation with serum suPAR. This study provides a clear indication of the diagnostic potential of suPAR, in association to routine inflammatory parameters such as CRP, in the diagnosis of PJI.
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Case Reports
D-lactic acidosis mediated neuronal encephalopathy in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patient: an under diagnosis.
D-lactic acidosis, also referred as D-lactate encephalopathy, has been reported in patients with short bowl syndrome (SBS). ⋯ The neurologic symptoms include altered mental status, slurred speech, and ataxia. Onset of neurological symptoms is accompanied by metabolic acidosis and high anion gap. We present here a case of D-lactic acidosis in a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who developed severe neurological symptoms and metabolic acidosis due to vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infection, and elevated D-lactic acid.