Issue

Genetic testing shows promise in guiding therapy for heart attack patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A first-of-its-kind study presented by Dutch researchers at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2019 and published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrate that such a strategy could, in fact,…

The proteins long thought to influence cancer growth might not be as essential as once thought, and the cancer drugs designed to target these proteins might not work as initially intended. A study in Science Translational Medicine reveals that some cancer drugs use off-target mechanisms to “kill” cancer cells. The…

Deaths related to synthetic opioid use in the United States have increased dramatically over the last 5 years, reaching more than 30,000 in 2018. In a new report, RAND Corp. details the insidious reach of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid the use of which in Northern America is rising more due…

New international guidelines published in Clinical Chemistry seek to educate labs on the biochemical, analytical, and clinical aspects of natriuretic peptides (NPs) as they relate to heart failure (HF), while acknowledging the important clinical gaps that still exist in this area of study and the need for additional research.

Responding to a rising incidence of fungal infections, the American Thoracic Society (ATM) has issued guidance on optimizing use of antigen tests, serological assays, and nucleic acid-based assays using polymerase chain reaction approaches (PCR) to diagnose several categories of fungal conditions often seen in pulmonary and critical care practices. The…

Guidelines published in the European Heart Journal on diagnosing pulmonary embolism (PE) recommended a targeted approach for D-dimer tests, setting assay cutoffs according to age or clinical probability instead of fixed values. In another new measure, pregnant women suspected of PE should receive D-dimer testing, “whereas it was not recommended…