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Introduction This article features a general background of the analytical characteristics associated with cardiac troponin testing. It addresses the following areas: Introduction to troponin What is the 99^th percentile upper reference limit (URL) and why do we use it? Determination of the 99^th percentile...

Introduction Since the first publications on cardiac troponin (cTn) in the 1970s, around 20.000 scientific reports on this powerful biomarker of myocardial injury have been published. Over time, cTn assays improved their analytical performance and became the designated biomarker for ruling out or ruling in acute...

Because measurements of GFR are tedious, estimated GFRs based on creatinine or cystatin C are widely used for assessing kidney function. Both measured GFRs and the Staging System for CKD based on GFR have analytical and clinical shortcomings. The advantages of serum creatinine and cystatin C, and eGFR will be...

The diagnosis of pulmonary embolism is challenging due to the non-specificity of signs and symptoms and the very busy Emergency Departments to which the overall majority of patients with suspected PE present. While several well-validated diagnostic algorithms exist and are readily available, it is known that in many...

Calculation-based approaches to determining oxygen saturation, as used in some point-of-care tests, increasingly deviate from values measured directly by CO-oximetry as the partial pressure of oxygen in the blood decreases. Oxygen saturation should be measured by CO-oximetry when inaccuracies in calculations may...

This article explores the potential benefits of point-of-care testing in the ED. Price and St. John provide a detailed description on how to approach four common aspects of point-of-care testing (POCT) in the ED, specifically, the challenges of adopting POCT, the impact of POCT on clinical decisions, the impact of...

Summary The reference interval for a biochemical analyte is usually an interval of values bounded by the reference limit values at certain designated percentiles [1].  As always when choosing a cut-off, the value will determine the trade-off between clinical sensitivity and specificity. When a low cut-off is chosen,...

This article discusses the use of a D-dimer assay in excluding venous thromboembolism (VTE) in outpatients. Together with a low pretest probability of VTE, a negative D-dimer test can rule out VTE in 30-50 % of suspected patient cases. The article highlights the importance of using a D-dimer assay with particular...

Reprinted with permission from Biochemia Medica. The journal of Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine. Biochemia Medica 2016;26(3):318-36  Blood gas analysis (BGA) is exposed to risks of errors caused by improper sampling, transport and storage conditions. The Clinical and Laboratory...