scholarly journals Defining laboratory medicine, or squaring the circle?

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-8
Author(s):  
Joseph Watine

In the August 2020 issue of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Giuseppe Lippi and Mario Plebani proposed a definition of laboratory medicine, which ends with this sentence: “The results of these measurements are translated into actionable information for improving the care and/or maintaining the wellness of both a single individual and an entire population”. Nevertheless, the selfishness of individuals may, sometimes, jeopardize the interest of whole populations. The virtue of justice being within the reach of the entire human community more than of single individuals, the final sentence in the definition proposed by Giuseppe Lippi and Mario Plebani, should therefore, in our view, be rewritten, less selfishly, for example like this: “For a given investment, these measurements are preferably made when they bring as much beneficence, and non-maleficence, as possible to the whole population”.

1970 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-129
Author(s):  
KD Mehta ◽  
AK Nepal ◽  
AK Jha ◽  
BK Lal Das ◽  
M Lamsal ◽  
...  

Background: Reference values or reference intervals are set of values of a certain type of quantity obtainable from a single individual or a group of individuals corresponding specific description.Objective: This study highlights the approach for determining the reference intervals for blood urea in a healthy population and establishes its upper and lower reference limits.Subjects and methods: A descriptive study was carried out in the Department of Biochemistry B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences from June 2009 to August 2009. International federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) priori sampling technique was used. Blood urea was estimated by diacetyl monoxime (DAM) and Glutamate Dehydrogenase (GLDH) kinetic methods. Reference intervals were defined as mean ± 1.96 SD. Mean and standard deviation for blood urea values were expressed as descriptive statistics.Results: The study included 60 individuals (36) 63% males and (24) 37 % females. Blood urea values by GLDH kinetic and DAM methods were 22.07 ± 5.6 mg/dl and 27.1 ±8.79 mg/dl respectively. Reference values of blood urea by GLDH kinetic and DAM methods were 16-28 mg/dl and 18-36 mg/dl respectively.Conclusions: This study highlights the establishment of reference intervals of blood urea levels from a healthy population. The reference intervals would enable the laboratory personnel and the clinicians to interpret the medical data.Health Renaissance, May-Aug 2010; Vol 8 (No.2):126-129  


Author(s):  
Marc H.M. Thelen ◽  
Florent J.L.A. Vanstapel ◽  
Christos Kroupis ◽  
Ines Vukasovic ◽  
Guilaime Boursier ◽  
...  

AbstractThe recent revision of ISO15189 has further strengthened its position as the standard for accreditation for medical laboratories. Both for laboratories and their customers it is important that the scope of such accreditation is clear. Therefore the European co-operation for accreditation (EA) demands that the national bodies responsible for accreditation describe the scope of every laboratory accreditation in a way that leaves no room for doubt about the range of competence of the particular laboratories. According to EA recommendations scopes may be fixed, mentioning every single test that is part of the accreditation, or flexible, mentioning all combinations of medical field, examination type and materials for which the laboratory is competent. Up to now national accreditation bodies perpetuate use of fixed scopes, partly by inertia, partly out of fear that a too flexible scope may lead to over-valuation of the competence of laboratories, most countries only use fixed scopes. The EA however promotes use of flexible scopes, since this allows for more readily innovation, which contributes to quality in laboratory medicine. In this position paper, the Working Group Accreditation and ISO/CEN Standards belonging to the Quality and Regulation Committee of the EFLM recommends using an approach that has led to successful introduction of the flexible scope for ISO15189 accreditation as intended in EA-4/17 in The Netherlands. The approach is risk-based, discipline and competence-based, and focuses on defining a uniform terminology transferable across the borders of scientific disciplines, laboratories and countries.


2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-247
Author(s):  
Petros Karkalousos

The Schemes of External Quality Control in Laboratory Medicine in the Balkans There are many differences between the national External Quality Control Schemes all around Europe, but the most important ones are certainly those between the countries of the Balkan region. These differences are due to these countries' different political and financial development, as well as to their tradition and the development of clinical chemistry science in each one. Therefore, there are Balkan countries with very developed EQAS and others where there is no such a scheme. Undoubtedly, the scientific community in these countries wants to develop EQAS despite of the financial and other difficulties.


2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 589-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike J Hallworth ◽  
Paul L Epner ◽  
Christoph Ebert ◽  
Corinne R Fantz ◽  
Sherry A Faye ◽  
...  

AbstractBACKGROUNDSystematic evidence of the contribution made by laboratory medicine to patient outcomes and the overall process of healthcare is difficult to find. An understanding of the value of laboratory medicine, how it can be determined, and the various factors that influence it is vital to ensuring that the service is provided and used optimally.CONTENTThis review summarizes existing evidence supporting the impact of laboratory medicine in healthcare and indicates the gaps in our understanding. It also identifies deficiencies in current utilization, suggests potential solutions, and offers a vision of a future in which laboratory medicine is used optimally to support patient care.SUMMARYTo maximize the value of laboratory medicine, work is required in 5 areas: (a) improved utilization of existing and new tests; (b) definition of new roles for laboratory professionals that are focused on optimizing patient outcomes by adding value at all points of the diagnostic brain-to-brain cycle; (c) development of standardized protocols for prospective patient-centered studies of biomarker clinical effectiveness or extraanalytical process effectiveness; (d) benchmarking of existing and new tests in specified situations with commonly accepted measures of effectiveness; (e) agreed definition and validation of effectiveness measures and use of checklists for articles submitted for publication. Progress in these areas is essential if we are to demonstrate and enhance the value of laboratory medicine and prevent valuable information being lost in meaningless data. This requires effective collaboration with clinicians, and a determination to accept patient outcome and patient experience as the primary measure of laboratory effectiveness.


2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-71
Author(s):  
Zh.K. Madalieva ◽  

The article discusses in detail the essence and meaning of ritual as a social action. The study of the nature of this phenomenon involves, first of all, the study of various approaches to the definition of the concept of "ritual" and related phenomena. Analyzing the existing definitions, the author comes to the conclusion that "ritual" is a certain set of actions that have symbolic meaning. The symbolism of the ritual is manifested in its connecting role with the world of the sacred, sacred. The article emphasizes that in the consciousness of a person in a traditional society, the sacred world is present in the real world through ritual. As an archaic form of culture, ritual was also a way of regulating and maintaining collective life. The ritual served as a means of integrating and maintaining the integrity of the human community, giving it stability. Therefore, the article focuses on the social functions of the ritual in both public and individual life.


2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 623-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul O. Collinson ◽  
Amy K. Saenger ◽  
Fred S. Apple ◽  

AbstractThe International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) formed a Task Force on the Application of Cardiac Bio-markers (TF-CB) in 2008, re-designated in 2018 as a committee (C-CB), to produce educational materials on cardiac biomarkers. Established in June 2017, definitive tables covering the majority of high-sensitivity, contemporary and point-of-care (POC) cTn assays have been developed by the C-CB and are available on the IFCC website. These tables provide extensive information about assays’ analytical characteristics and encompass information on diagnostic discriminants, particularly the 99th percentiles, as provided by the manufacturers.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document