Clin Chem Lab Med
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Measurement of HbA1c is the most important parameter to assess glycemic control in diabetic patients. Different point-of-care devices for HbA1c are available. The aim of this study was to evaluate two point-of-care testing (POCT) analyzers (DCA Vantage from Siemens and Afinion from Axis-Shield). We studied the bias and precision as well as interference from carbamylated hemoglobin. ⋯ Both POCT analyzers for HbA1c show good correlation with the laboratory method and acceptable precision.
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A growing body of evidence suggests that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a multifactorial disease resulting in the well-known, common neuropathological pathway characterized by extracellular fibrillar β amyloid (Aβ) deposits in the brain, intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and neuronal as well as axonal degeneration. While fairly accurate, the clinical diagnosis of probable AD based on standard diagnostic criteria does not take into account the long preclinical and prodromal course of AD. ⋯ Biomarkers that are related to the pathophysiology of AD may thus help detect the preclinical stages of disease, and improve early and differential diagnosis. Here, we provide an overview of current literature on the core AD biomarkers, Aβ and phosphor-tau (p-tau), on different methods and modalities of assessing them [e.g., cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and PET imaging], and on their diagnostic and predictive value in preclinical and clinical stages of AD.
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Whereas N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is approved for risk stratification of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), short-term temporal changes in NT-proBNP concentrations and the optimal time points for sampling are not clear. The purpose of this study was to better define the short-term changes in NT-proBNP in relation to clinical presentation, reperfusion and prognostic value in patients with ACS, as well as to identify the optimum time points for sampling. ⋯ In patients with NSTEMI, NT-proBNP may be increased as high as concentrations usually associated with acute congestive heart failure despite the absence of clinical signs. In contrast, patients with STEMI and short time to presentation may present with completely normal NT-proBNP, but dramatic short-term increases following reperfusion. NT-proBNP reflects ischemic burden, reperfusion success and prognosis, and the current data support repetitive sampling in patients with ACS.
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We evaluated the body fluid (BF) mode on the new Sysmex XE-5000 analyzer. ⋯ The BF mode on the Sysmex XE-5000 offers rapid and accurate RBC and WBC (differential) counts in clinically relevant concentration ranges in CSF and other fluids. In addition, the exclusion of high fluorescent cells, such as mesothelial cells and macrophages from WBC counting may reduce the number of manual analyses in pleural fluids and ascites.