American Association for Clinical Chemistry
Improving healthcare through laboratory medicine
NACB Blog
Are reference change values more useful than population-based reference intervals?

4/30/2013 2:15 PM | Comments (0) Recommend (47)

By Callum G Fraser, PhD & William (Bill) A Bartlett, PhD, FRCPath
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​We professionals in laboratory medicine agonize over provision of appropriate population-based reference intervals (RI). Good quality RI, in addition to flags on results triggered by their limits, are required by laboratory accreditation bodies and standards such as ISO 15189.  And we do know that...(Read More)
Posted at 4/30/2013 2:15 PM | Tags: Special Populations
Inborn Errors of Metabolism:  are they just for kids?

3/19/2013 3:55 PM | Comments (0) Recommend (178)

By Michael J. Bennett Ph.D., FRCPath, DABCC, FACB
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​A 72 year old female was recently referred to a metabolism clinic (yes at a children’s hospital!) with a very long history of anemia and bone pain that had been monitored but not particularly investigated by numerous internists. She was subsequently found to be deficient in the enzyme glucocerobro...(Read More)
Posted at 3/19/2013 3:55 PM | Tags: Special Populations | New/Other Disease Markers
Babysoaps and False Positive THC Results in the Nursery

7/10/2012 9:48 AM | Comments (2) Recommend (816)

By Steve Cotten, PhD and Catherine Hammett-Stabler, PhD
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Our lab recently used some nifty sleuthing to discover that soaps used in our newborn nursery were generating false positive THC urine drug screening results.  Newborn drug testing has far-reaching impacts not only in healthcare, but also in the legal domain.  Prenatal drug exposure is considered c...(Read More)
Posted at 7/10/2012 9:48 AM | Tags: Special Populations | TDM/Toxicology
Pediatric Reference Intervals: Current Gaps and New Initiatives

5/8/2012 11:59 AM | Comments (4) Recommend (586)

By Khosrow Adeli, PhD, FCACB, FACB, DABCC
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​Pediatric healthcare is critically dependent on availability of accurate and precise laboratory tests/biomarkers of pediatric disease, and on availability of "reference intervals" (or “normal values”) to allow appropriate clinical interpretation. Children are not small adults; child deve...(Read More)
Posted at 5/8/2012 11:59 AM | Tags: Special Populations
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