Measurement of plasma/serum sodium concentration is one of the most frequently requested blood tests in clinical practice. Although usually performed in the laboratory, the test is also available at the point of care using technology incorporated into blood gas and other point-of-care analyzers. In health, sodium...

The principal function of the protein hemoglobin contained in red blood cells is transport of oxygen in inspired air from lungs to tissue cells. Although normally present in only trace amounts, there are three species of hemoglobin that cannot transport oxygen. The three species, collectively called the dyshemoglobins ...

In Geneva in 1821, a French nobleman Jacques Alexandre Le Jumeau, Vicomte de Kergaradec, became the pioneer of modern fetal monitoring. He described the sound of the fetal heartbeat, as he used the newly invented stethoscope (by Laennec, France 1819) and applied it to the abdominal wall of a pregnant woman [1]. The...

As point-of-care testing (POCT) continues to expand in the hospital environment, the desire of physicians to participate in the performance of testing may increase. This article discusses the required competencies for a physician who wishes to be involved in laboratory testing and some practical considerations for...

The National Kidney Disease Education Program (NKDEP) Laboratory Working Group reviewed problems related to serum creatinine measurement for estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and prepared recommendations to standardize and improve creatinine measurement. The NKDEP recommends using the estimating equation...

Clinical initiatives to maintain blood glucose (BG) within a more normal range have emerged over the last decade as a growing trend in clinical management of patients in acute care settings. This trend has grown due to the increased focus of research in glycemic control (GC) and results indicating that GC is...

This is the second of two articles about the risks and benefits of red-cell transfusion directed at healthcare professionals without any particular transfusion expertise. The focus of the first article was the risks and the extensive measures taken to minimize those risks. For this second article, attention turns to...

There is widespread confusion concerning the quantities to be used in the description of the oxygen-transport properties of human blood [1]. It all began in 1980 with the introduction of a changed (and wrong) definition of oxygen saturation in a paper on a new instrument for multicomponent analysis (MCA) of...

Although often of life-saving benefit, transfusion of donated red cells is associated with considerable potential risk for the recipient patient. This article, directed at healthcare professionals without any particular transfusion expertise, outlines these risks and the measures taken to minimize them. Particular...

Interview Fetal scalp Blood Sampling (FBS) – not exactly wishful thinking for the mother, nor for the obstetrician? The procedure is regarded as cumbersome, the sample quality is questionable and the consequences of the result may be instrumental vaginal delivery or Cesarian Section (CS). acutecaretesting.org has...