Concepts of clinical testing

Question 1

Describe concept of patient management and investigation of disease.

Answer 1

Management: medical examination, clinical hx, pc, pmhx, ddx, lab and radiology, diagnosis, tx (surgical or medical), monitor outcome in disease and tx.

Question 2

What are the common methods used to measure analytes in body fluids?

Answer 2

Spectrophotometric assay, immunological assay, nephelometric, chromatography, mass spectrometry.

Question 3

What is a reference range?

Answer 3

Range of values that represent 90 or 95% of the reference population.

Question 4

Describe how results are interpreted.

Answer 4

Data interpretation, often reported as concentrations, compared to a known reference range