Laboratory samples deemed ‘unsuitable for analysis’ can be diagnostically useful
| Autor: | P Sen Gupta, PM Timms, Munesh K. Sharma |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Abdominal pain medicine.medical_specialty Lymphoma Acute abdominal pain Macrocytic anaemia Body Mass Index Specimen Handling Lethargy Hospital Administration Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols medicine Hypoglycemic Agents Insulin Humans Anemia Macrocytic Obesity Automated analyser Letters to the Editor Intensive care medicine Aged Blood Specimen Collection Plasma Exchange business.industry Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Internship and Residency Lesson of the Month (1) General Medicine medicine.disease United States Surgery Early Diagnosis Treatment Outcome Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 Pancreatitis Hospital doctor Collective Bargaining medicine.symptom business |
| Popis: | One percent of laboratory samples are rejected as 9unsuitable for analysis’. Although this may be due to incorrect handling, a proportion are attributable to underlying pathology affecting serum, contamination or artefact. In this Lesson of the month we present two case reports. The first is an obese young man with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus who presented with acute abdominal pain. Initial blood results were not processed as the automated analyser returned an 9unsuitable9 report. The second is an elderly man who presented with abdominal pain and lethargy. He had profound macrocytic anaemia and initial blood results were again deemed 9unsuitable9. In both cases, the laboratory comments had important diagnostic implications. Early identification of lipaemic serum from hypertriglyceridaemic pancreatitis in the first case allowed directed therapy with insulin, and hyperviscous serum from lymphoma in the second allowed directed therapy with plasma exchange and chemotherapy. Other causes of analyser artefact are tabulated to serve as a useful template for hospital doctors in considering underlying causes and practical solutions. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|