Clinical biochemistry
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Clinical biochemistry · Feb 2014
Low volume tubes are not effective to reduce the rate of hemolyzed specimens from the emergency department.
Spurious hemolysis is the leading source of nonconformities that can be recorded in diagnostic samples, especially those collected in the emergency department (ED). The aim of this study was to assess whether the shift from regular to low volume blood collection tubes may reduce the rate of hemolysis in a large urban ED, where approximately 80% of blood collections are performed through catheters. ⋯ The use of low volume tubes was not effective to decrease the hemolysis rate in a large urban ED.
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Clinical biochemistry · Jan 2014
Elevated serum ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 levels in patients with carbon monoxide poisoning.
Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1) has been established as a reliable and potential biomarker of neuronal damage after acute neurologic insults, such as ischemic stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and traumatic brain injury. However, the effect of serum UCH-L1 levels has not been investigated in carbon monoxide (CO)-poisoned patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether serum UCH-L1 levels are a reliable marker of brain damage and the association of UCH-L1 with outcome. ⋯ Serum levels of UCH-L1 appear to have potential clinical utility in providing valuable information about poisoning severity and outcome after CO poisoning.
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Clinical biochemistry · Jan 2014
Three-year variability in plasma concentrations of the soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE).
The soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) has been implicated in the development of diabetes-related vascular complications, but the variability of concentrations of sRAGE in the blood is unknown. The objective of this study was to characterize within-person three-year variability of plasma levels of sRAGE. ⋯ We observed that sRAGE concentrations remained relatively stable over three years. Our findings suggest that a single measure of circulating sRAGE tracks well in a community-based population and could be a useful measure in clinical and epidemiologic studies of long-term risk.
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Clinical biochemistry · Jan 2014
An audit of holotranscobalamin ("Active" B12) and methylmalonic acid assays for the assessment of vitamin B12 status: application in a mixed patient population.
Vitamin B12 insufficiency/deficiency is common in mixed patient populations. However there is no single marker which can reliably diagnose B12 insufficiency/deficiency. Elevated concentrations of methylmalonic acid (MMA) are considered the most representative marker of metabolic vitamin B12 insufficiency, but poor assay availability limits clinical utility. Low concentrations of serum vitamin B12 are often used to assess vitamin B12 status but this approach generates a high rate of false negative results. Emerging evidence indicates that holotranscobalamin (holoTC) may be a more reliable indicator of vitamin B12 status. ⋯ Our results indicate that in the clinical setting a holoTC between 25 and 50 pmol/L is a poor predictor for the concentration of MMA provided the goal is to identify patients with MMA values above the limits used in the present study. Further studies are needed to evaluate to what extent holoTC <25 and >50 pmol/L reflect circulatory MMA concentrations.
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Clinical biochemistry · Nov 2013
Diagnostic performance of four point of care cardiac troponin I assays to rule in and rule out acute myocardial infarction.
This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of four point-of-care (POC) cardiac troponin I (cTnI) assays compared to a central laboratory cTnI assay for detecting myocardial injury and diagnosing acute myocardial infarction (AMI). ⋯ cTnI is a sensitive biomarker for detection of myocardial injury. The analytical variability that exists between POC cTnI assays demonstrates substantial diagnostic differences for ruling in and ruling out MI in patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of ACS.