Clinical biochemistry
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Clinical biochemistry · Feb 2017
Cross-sectional study of high-sensitivity cardiac troponins T and I in a hospital and community outpatient setting.
Cardiac troponins are specific for the heart, but not for the acute coronary syndrome. We wanted to assess how common elevated cardiac troponin concentrations were, in a population with significant non-cardiac disease. ⋯ Significant illnesses apart from the acute coronary syndrome are important causes of a rise in cTn to above the 99th percentile, and appear to reflect the total body burden of disease. Even when the high hs-cTn concentration is not due to the acute coronary syndrome, there is a significant association with all-cause mortality.
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Clinical biochemistry · Nov 2016
Practical application of biological variation and Sigma metrics quality models to evaluate 20 chemistry analytes on the Beckman Coulter AU680.
This study aimed to evaluate the imprecision and bias data generated for 20 routine chemistry analytes against both the biological variation fitness for purpose (FFP) and Sigma metrics (SM) criteria. ⋯ The individual interpretation of bias and imprecision using FFP criteria allowed for the clear determination of the major source of error. Whereas, SM provided a summative evaluation of method performance. But the selection of total allowable error (TEa) is fundamental to this interpretation and harmonisation of the TEa calculation is needed.
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Clinical biochemistry · Oct 2016
A single value of high-sensitive troponin T below the limit of detection is not enough for ruling out non ST elevation myocardial infarction in the emergency department.
Recent 2015 ESC recommendations for the management of patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI) support that a single value of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (HS-cTn) measured at presentation could rule out AMI if below the limit of blank (LoB) or detection (LoD). ⋯ The NPV of a single measurement of HS-cTnT below the LoD is high in unselected patients, but not enough to rule out safely NSTEMI for very early presenters.
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Clinical biochemistry · Aug 2016
Comparative StudyType VIII collagen is elevated in diseases associated with angiogenesis and vascular remodeling.
Type VIII collagen is involved in angiogenesis and remodeling of arteries. We hypothesized that type VIII collagen was upregulated in diseases associated with vascular remodeling, e.g. pulmonary fibrosis and cancer. In this paper we present the development and validation of a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) targeting type VIII collagen in serum and plasma. ⋯ The C8-C assay was technically robust and specific for type VIII collagen. Concentrations of C8-C were significantly elevated in serum from patients diagnosed with COPD and within 9 different cancer types, but not IPF. Further research is required to test C8-C as an efficacy marker for angiostatic treatments.
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Clinical biochemistry · Aug 2016
High BAX/BCL2 mRNA ratio predicts favorable prognosis in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, particularly in patients with negative lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis.
Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), a common type of head and neck cancer, is associated with high rates of metastasis and recurrence. Therefore, accurate prognostic stratification of LSCC patients based on molecular prognostic tumor biomarkers would definitely lead to a better clinical management of this malignancy. The aim of this study was the investigation of the potential combinatorial prognostic value of BCL2 and BAX mRNA expression in LSCC. ⋯ The BAX/BCL2 mRNA ratio is a putative molecular tissue biomarker in CLL and hence deserves further validation in larger cohorts of LSCC patients.