Clinical biochemistry
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Clinical biochemistry · Jan 2013
Predicting myocardial infarction and other serious cardiac outcomes using high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T in a high-risk stable population.
Previous work on high-sensitivity troponin I (hs-cTnI) has demonstrated that it may identify patients with stable cardiovascular disease (CVD) at risk for future myocardial infarction (MI). In this study, we assessed if hs-cTnT concentrations could also identify those stable CVD patients at high risk for future MI and other ischemic cardiac outcomes. ⋯ In patients with stable CVD disease hs-cTnT measurement identifies those at risk for MI as well as HF and cardiovascular death.
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Clinical biochemistry · Jan 2013
Day-to-day variation of urinary NGAL and rational for creatinine correction.
The number of clinical studies evaluating the new tubular biomarker urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (U-NGAL) in urine are increasing. There is no consensus whether absolute U-NGAL concentrations or urinary NGAL/creatinine (U-NGAL/Cr) ratios should be used when chronic tubular dysfunction is studied. The aim was to study the biological variation of U-NGAL in healthy subjects and the rational for urinary creatinine (U-Cr) correction in two different study samples. ⋯ The study provides some support for the use of U-NGAL/Cr ratio but the rather large biological variation and risk of possible overadjustment need to be considered. Both absolute U-NGAL and U-NGAL/Cr ratios should be reported for the estimation of chronic tubular dysfunction.
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Clinical biochemistry · Nov 2012
Comparative StudyShort-term (90 min) diagnostic performance for acute non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction and 30-day prognostic evaluation of a novel third-generation high sensitivity troponin I assay.
We evaluated a third-generation high sensitivity "guidelines acceptable" troponin I assay (hs-cTnI) against a contemporary "clinically usable" troponin assay (cTnI). ⋯ The hs-cTnI assay achieved a 90-minute rule out for AMI and detected more 3 times as many AMI cases. The specificity increased with the Δ30% criteria. The hs-cTnI assay also detected more cases of patient at risk for adverse cardiac events at 30 days.
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Clinical biochemistry · Nov 2012
Signal peptide-CUB-EGF domain-containing protein 1 (SCUBE1) level in hemodialysis patients and parameters affecting that level.
Signal peptide-CUB (complement C1r/C1s, Uegf, and Bmp1)-EGF (epidermal growth factor)-domain-containing protein 1 (SCUBE1) is a cell surface protein belonging to the SCUBE gene family. SCUBE1 has been shown to rise in parallel with platelet activation in acute ischemic events. However, there are no studies showing levels in the hemodialysis patient group, in which there is known to be an increase in platelet function impairment and activation. The purpose of this study was to investigate SCUBE1 levels in a hemodialysis patient group and the factors affecting those levels. ⋯ We have shown, for the first time in the literature, that SCUBE1 level, a potential acute ischemia marker, is elevated in hemodialysis patients with no clinical ischemic event, and that various factors affect this elevation.
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Clinical biochemistry · Sep 2012
Review Meta AnalysisEffectiveness of automated notification and customer service call centers for timely and accurate reporting of critical values: a laboratory medicine best practices systematic review and meta-analysis.
To conduct a systematic review of the evidence available in support of automated notification methods and call centers and to acknowledge other considerations in making evidence-based recommendations for best practices in improving the timeliness and accuracy of critical value reporting. ⋯ The evidence, although suggestive, is not sufficient to make an LMBP recommendation for or against using automated notification systems as a best practice to improve the timeliness of critical value reporting in an in-patient care setting. Call centers, however, are effective in improving the timeliness of critical value reporting in an in-patient care setting, and meet LMBP criteria to be recommended as an "evidence-based best practice."