Intro & Request for Lab investigations Flashcards
what is chempath ?
A SCIENCE ;
- concerned with the use of biochemical & molecular biological methods in the diagnosis of disease
- concerned with developing & carrying out clinical analyses of body fluids & other biological materials for the diagnosis, therapy & research of diseases
_ is the major aspect of lab medicine & lab physicians
Clinical Laboratory Science
functions of a lab investigation
1) screen for metabolic diseases
2) help make a diagnosis
3) monitor treatment
4) detect complications
5) medicolegal reasons
Types of Tests
1) Static Test - occurs with patient in resting state as they present clinically. Used to detect gross changes in organ function.
2) Dynamic Test - put the organ function under stress. Detects subtle abnormalities. May involve the use of a suppressant/stimulant
what is stimulating dynamic functions test
involves extreme load of a normal metabolite to test the ability of the organ to cope with the excess load
oral glucose tolerance test measures _ function
endocrine pancreatic
suppression tests with examples
1) usually hormonal
2) test integrity of feedback & response of the target organ
eg Dexamethasone suppression, saline suppression, fludrocortisone suppression
_ is diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome
Dexamethasone suppression test
_ & _ test is diagnostic of primary aldosteronism
Saline suppression test & fludrocortisone suppression test
What is Emergency Lab ?
when an urgent test is done in which the clinician is likely to take immediate action
Biochemical Measurements vary for two reasons
1) Analytical variation
2) Biological variation
Analytical variation as affected by factors such as ;
1) precision & accuracy
2) sensitivity & specificity
3) quality assurance
4) reference ranges
reproducibility of an analytical record is
precision
Accuracy
how close the measured value is to the actual value
Sensitivity
how little of the analyte the method can detect
Specificity
how good the assay is in discriminating btwn analyte of interest and potentially interfering substances
What is Quality Assurance
Laboratory staff monitor performance of assay using quality control samples to give reassurance that the method is performing satisfactorily with patients’ specimen
Action limit
where appropriate intervention should be made in response to a biochemical result
Action limit
where appropriate intervention should be made in response to a biochemical result
Non-biological factors to consider in the interpretation of lab results
1) Between-individual differences such as Age, Sex, Ethnic differences
2) Within-individual differences such as circadian or diurnal rhythms, stress and anxiety, time of meal, season, posture, exercise, infection, medical history, pregnancy, menstrual history, drug hx, et
information about __ , ___ & ___ are needed for a good application of lab results
1) assay performance
2) biological variation
3) clinical judgment
