wk3- pathology testing Flashcards
is there medicare rebate for pods when referring pt to pathology
no- so best to go through with GP
types of pathology testing
1.kidney function (creatinine, eGFR)
2. hepatic function (LFTs - liver function tesst)
3. microbiology (bacterial, fungal)
4. aspirates
5. blood tests (ESR, CRP, FBC/CBC)
6. histology
reasons for pathology testing
- identifying dysfunction
- guides pharmacotherapeutics
- monitors response to treatment
ways the liver helps with metabolism
- functionalisation (addition of a functional group to make it more water soluble)- CYP450 enzymes help with this
- conjugation reaction (addition of polar group from endogenous substance to the drug
liver function tests tell us what
-screen liver damage
-tracking acute liver disease on a day by day basis
-response to treatment
-tests do not always correlate with severity or prognosis
-can still have normal LFTs and have liver function issues
Example:cirrhosis can have normal LFTs
-abnormal LFT is common and may reflect problems outside the liver
patterns of liver function tests
- hepatocellular- injury to hepatocytes
2.cholestatic- injury to bile ducts
what are you testing with an LFT
Concentrations of
- alanine aminotransferase (ALT)- linked to hepatocellular damage
- aspartate aminotransferase (AST)- hepatocellular damage, same as ALT
- Gamma glutaryl transferase (GGT)-
which can be caused by:
-viral infections
-drug/alcohol abuse
-viral infection
-anoxia
-obstruction
ratio of ALT/AST can indicate what
severity of condition
normal- 1.15
deviations above and below this indicates disease, and the further away, the more severe
examples in lecture slides
elevated levels of gamma glutaryl transferase (GGT) may indicate what?
Cholestasis
* Enzyme induction
* Alcohol, phenytoin, barbiturates, rifampicin
* Congestive heart failure
* Cirrhosis
* Hepatic ischemia, necrosis, or tumour
* Hepatitis
* Hepatotoxic drugs.
if there is hepatic impairment or low therapeautic index what is the best thing to do when initiating drugs that are cleared by the liver
reduce dose by 50%
major functions of the kidney
- Filtration of blood:
* Removes metabolic wastes from the body, esp. those containing nitrogen - Regulation/ reabsorption
* Blood volume and composition
* Electrolytes
* Acid-Base Balance
reabsorb essential compoounds - Endocrine:
* Erythropoietin (EPO)
* Renin
* 1,25 dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25 Vitamin D) - Secretion through urine
Glomerurlar filtration rate
volume of plasma filtered
approx- 180L/day (1-2L/day loss through urine and 99% of filtrate is reabsorbed)
approx urine output
1-2L/DAY
How much filtrate is reabsorbed
99%
180L- GFR
1-2L - urine
what influences GFR
-BP and flow
-obstruction to urine outflow
-loss of protein free fluid
what makes up renal clearance
Glomerular filtration
secretition
passive rebsorption
what changes are made to drugs when renal function is less than 50% and the drug is cleared by kidneys more than 50%
dose adjustments
main site for clearance of water soluble drugs from the blood
kidneys
why is kidney function important for drug use
if there is renal impairment, normal amounts of drug consumption will eventually exceed the amount of drug being cleared and plasma levels will continue to rise causing toxicity
example of antibiotics cleared by the kidneys (renal)
penicillins and cephalosporins
renal function tests include
- creatinine clearance
-waste product of skeletal muscle breakdown that can only be excreted by filtration (no reabsorption), this is used to measure the GRF of kidneys
-cockcroft gault formula - eGFR
-uses serum cretinine, age, gender, ethnicity to calculate
normal eGFR values for 20-70 YRS OLD
20- 116mL
40- 99mL
60- 85mL
70-75mL
the older you get the lower the renal clearance
downfalls of creatinine clearance testing
very expensive and time consuming
as people age, their GRF levels change therefore
they will need dose adjustments as their clearance will decrease