Issue

Adopting a more judicious, decision-oriented approach on lab tests for dyslipidemia, the U.S. Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) are recommending that patients repeat nonfasting lipid profiles just once every 10 years, ceasing any tests once they achieve statin dose goals. DoD and VA also recommend against routine…

Nine months after the federal government declared a public health emergency on SARS-CoV-2, clinical labs are still reporting deficits in needed testing supplies and challenges with staff. Many have sought out innovative approaches and partnerships to keep up with testing demands, changing the way they do daily business.

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) shows talent in sleuthing out mutations in women with certain types of advanced breast cancer and matching them to precision treatments. According to British researchers, who reported these findings in The Lancet, this makes a strong case for using liquid biopsy routinely in clinical practice for…

Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) is proving its use as a marker of rejection in kidney transplantation. In October’s Clinical Chemistry, a team of researchers determined that absolute dd-cfDNA concentrations is a superior metric to fractional dd-cfDNA (a percentage metric) for surveying grafts in stable transplant patients over a prolonged period…

A special collections issue from The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine brings to light the value of laboratory medicine in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, in the opioids epidemic, and in molecular diagnostics. The future of lab medicine will depend more on value basics than testing volume, according to journal Editor-in-Chief Robert…

U.S. hospitals infrequently use pneumococcal urinary antigen tests (UAT) to identify Streptococcus pneumoniae infection and subsequently de-escalate antibiotics. Researchers whose findings appear in Clinical Infectious Diseases said this has implications for improving antimicrobial stewardship.