Differentiating self-limiting from serious lower-respiratory-tract infections (LRTI) based on medical history and physical examination is challenging in primary care. Many family physicians (FPs) empirically prescribe antibiotics to most LRTI patients.  The use of C-reactive protein (CRP) point-of-care testing as an...

A new parameter called critical reference change value (CrRCV) to be applied for the interpretation of serial measurements of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is introduced. To illustrate the practical utility of CrRCV a set of clinical examples based on two consecutive cTnI results are presented. Thus three cTnI changes...

Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis generates a number of parameters (listed in BOX 5) that together allow assessment of pulmonary gas exchange, blood oxygenation and acid-base balance. These physiological functions of the blood, respiratory and renal systems are disturbed in a range of respiratory and non-respiratory...

Modern blood gas analyzers often have incorporated sensor technology that allows measurement of plasma lactate concentration. In nature lactate exists in two isoforms: L-lactate and D-lactate.  In all vertebrates, including humans, the L-lactate form is by far the most abundant and pathophysiologically significant,...

Blood gas analysis (BGA) is a laboratory and point-of-care test routinely used to assess acid-base status along with adequacy of ventilation and oxygenation among predominantly critically/acutely ill patients.  The ”gold standard” sample for BGA is arterial blood collected anaerobically by needle puncture of an artery ...

Patients with sepsis, severe sepsis and/or septic shock are at increased risk of death and organ dysfunction.  While morbidity and mortality of patients with severe traumatic injury, acute myocardial infarction or stroke have been significantly reduced during recent years by the implementation of well-coordinated...

Postoperative cardiovascular event including myocardial infarction or heart failure is a major cause of morbidity after non-cardiac surgery. Preoperative evaluation including estimation of the probability of perioperative cardiac event and application of non-invasive testing or beta-blocker has been developed, but...

Hemodialysis and related treatments for those with failing kidneys all involve blood flow through a circuit outside the body. This extracorporeal circuit - the dialysis machine and its connections from and back to the body - is a non-physiological, pro-coagulant environment.  To counter the tendency for patients'...

The process of patient sample testing, whether performed in the clinical laboratory or at the point of care, is the sum of three distinct phases. The first is the preanalytical phase, which includes test selection as well as sample collection and handling.  The second is the analytical or measuring phase that...

Clinical laboratory measurement of serum/plasma creatinine concentration has been used to assess patient kidney function for well over 50 years.  With the incorporation of creatinine analyses to blood gas and other point-of-care platforms the test is now available outside the laboratory, at the bedside and in the...