Clinical Biochemistry Flashcards

1
Q

Core Lab

A
  • found at all hospitals
  • operates 24/7
  • highly automated
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2
Q

Special Chemistry

A
  • less frequent
  • labour intensive
  • doesnt need immediate results
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3
Q

Point of care testing

A
  • instruments located outside of chemistry laboratory such as ICU, ER etc
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4
Q

Core lab tests

A

Electrolytes, blood gases, endocrine, lipids, proteins, glucose, tumour markers, vitamins, toxicology, ethanol, methanol, drug abuse, specific proteins etc

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5
Q

Point of care testing tests

A
  • blood glucose
  • urinalysis
  • blood gases
  • electrolytes
  • cardiac markers
  • drug screens
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6
Q

Why are tests ordered?

A
  • Diagnosis
  • Monitor progression of disease
  • Monitor effectiveness of treatment
  • Screening population for diseases
  • To identify complications of treatment
  • For predicting survivability, employability
  • To check the accuracy of an unexpected data
  • To conduct research
  • To prevent malpractice
  • For educating residents
  • To assess nutritional status and health of an health individual
  • Responding to total uncertainty
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7
Q

Are cardiac markers and drug screens qualitative or quantitative?

A

qualitative tests

- can be recorded and reported

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8
Q

Are urinalysis qualitative or quantitative?

A

can be qualitative, or quantitative

  • hard copy of results generated
  • possible to interface hospital LIS
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9
Q

High specific marker

A

troponin t

  • marker of myocardial infarction
  • found in cardiac tissue
  • released into bloodstream following cell death
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10
Q

Non specific marker

A

low blood pH (acidosis)

  • drugs
  • respiratory problems
  • renal problems
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11
Q

Lab Tests

A
  • Measuring an analyte as a Marker to distinguish health and disease
  • Ideal Marker
  • Absolutely specific for a specific disease
  • Easily measurable
  • Quantity reflective of severity of disease
  • Early detection following onset of disease
  • Not affected by other biological disturbances
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12
Q

Blood analysis- source

A
  • veins
  • arteries
  • skin puncture capillary blood
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13
Q

Blood analysis- factors affecting choice of blood source and collection method

A
  • analyte under investigation
  • vascular status
  • ease of collection
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14
Q

Blood analysis- collection method

A

syringe, evacuated tube, additives, separator gel, and intravenous ilnes

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15
Q

What are the most widely used tubes?

A

evacuated tubes

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16
Q

Why are evacuated tubes mostly used?

A
  • negative pressure facilitates collection
  • sterile
  • easy to use
  • universally used colour coded rubber stoppers to denote tube type
  • tubes can contain various anticoagulants
  • tubes can have additives for specific tests
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17
Q

Red tubes

A
  • contain no anticoagulants or preservatives
  • used for collecting serum
  • 10/15 min is needed to allow blood to clot before centrifuging
  • used for blood bank specimens and chemistry
18
Q

Gold and Tiger tubes

A
  • contain a gel that forms a physical barrier between the serum and cells after centrifugation
  • no additives present
  • gel barrier can affect tests
19
Q

Grey tubes

A
  • used for glucose measurement

- after blood collection, glucose concentration decreases significantly because of cellular metabolism

20
Q

What can the grey tube contain?

A
  • sodium fluoride or potassium oxalate
  • sodium iodoacetate
  • NaF
  • Iodoacetate inhibits glucose-3-phosphate dehydrogenase
21
Q

Green tubes

A
  • contain either Na, K, or lithium salt of heparin
  • used anticoagulant for chemistry test
  • effect size and integrity of cellular blood components and not recommended for hematology studies
  • heparin accelerates action of antithrombin which inhibits thrombin so blood doesnt clot
22
Q

Lavender tubes

A
  • contain K salt of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), which chelates calcium (essential for clot formation) and inhibits coagulation
  • Used for hematology, and some chemistries
  • Cannot be used for K or Ca tests
23
Q

Blue tubes

A
  • contain sodium citrate which chelates calcium and inhibits coagulation
  • used for coagulation studies because it is easily reversible
24
Q

Brown and Royal blue tests

A
  • specifically for trace metal studies
  • brown top are used for lead analysis
  • royal blue are used for other trace elements studies
25
Q

Test results: variations, errors and interferences

A
  • Clinical variations within an individual and between individuals
  • Analytical variations-no test is perfect. All tests have some degree of variations for repeated measurements of the same sample.
  • The final test result is affected by factors that occur
  • Pre-analytically
  • At the time of the test
  • After the test is completed
26
Q

Steps in obtaining a lab test

A
  • Test is requested by physician and ordered on the computer. Barcode is generated
  • Specimen is collected
  • Specimen and order are transported to the lab
  • The specimen is accessioned in the lab
  • The specimen is processed
  • The specimen is analyzed
  • The results are reviewed and verified by an technologists
  • The results are released to the patient’s record
27
Q

Analytical results vary: inter-individual variation

A

age, sex, race, genetics, long term health status

28
Q

Analytical results vary:intra–individual variation

A

Diet, Exercise, Drugs, Sleep pattern, Posture, Time of venipuncture, and time tourniquet is applied

29
Q

Analytical results vary: pre analytic variation

A
  • Transport
  • Exposure to UV light
  • Standing time before separation of cells
  • Centrifugation time
  • Storage conditions
30
Q

Analytical Variation

A
  • Random errors

- Systematic errors

31
Q

Post-analytical

A
  • Transcriptions errors

- Results reported to wrong patient

32
Q

Pre analytic errors

A
  • Collection
  • Was the right tube used?
  • Was venipuncture performed correctly?
  • Was the specimen properly stored?
  • Identification
  • Was the blood collected from the correct patient?
  • Was the blood correctly labeled?
  • Patient name, ID, date, time of collection, phlebotomist
33
Q

Specimen identification

A
  • One of the common sources of erroneous lab results is misidentified specimens
  • The lab is required to have a clear and rational policy for identifying specimens, and handling misidentified specimens
  • Retrievable versus irretrievable
  • Retrievable refers to collection of easily obtained substances – eg urine (non-invasive, can get again)
  • Irretrievable might be pediatric CSF or even blood (cannot get again)
34
Q

Prolonged Venous Stasis - pre-analytical errors

A
  • Small molecules, water and ions are forced out blood vessels and larger molecules are concentrated
  • Increases Total Protein, proteins, iron, cholesterol, bilirubin
  • Decreases potassium
35
Q

Supine vs sitting or standing

A
  • Going from lying (supine) to upright reduces total blood volume by about 700 ml
36
Q

The following may decrease by 5-15% in the supine patient:

A
  • Total protein
  • Albumin
  • Lipids
  • Iron
  • Calcium
  • Enzymes
37
Q

Hemolysis

A
  • rupture of RBC
  • can be due to improper collection
  • end result is dumping cellular contents into blood
  • mild dilution effect in some analytes
  • significant increase in potassium, magnesium and phosphorous
38
Q

Interferences are

A

hemolysis and lipemia

39
Q

Hemolysis interference

A
  • The release of hemoglobin into blood can affect the reactions comprising specific tests
  • Causes serum or plasma to be red and can affect tests that are colorimetric
40
Q

Lipemia

A

lots of fats and lots of protein

41
Q

Lipemia interference

A
  • Causes serum or plasma to be become turbid.
  • This can effect colorimetric and turbidimetric based tests
  • Also can cause a dilution effect. Fats and proteins are large and displace water in plasma. Can give falsely low results especially for Na