Catlab Reports Bulletin
The Catlab Reports Bulletin is published monthly. Until the publication of the Catlab website, it was mailed electronically to our clients. It consists of a monograph related with laboratory topics. Each month it addresses a different area of Catlab; the topics can be more specific (concrete diagnostic techniques) or deal with more generic aspects (Quality, Management, …).
MICROBIOLOGY - Incorporation of mass spectrometry in clinical microbiology
The Catlab Microbiology area has recently incorporated an advanced technology (MALDI-TOF) to identify bacteria and fungi in a few minutes, in contrast to conventional, very slow methods. It provides advantages in the management of the patient with sepsis, since the speed of information improves the quality of health care: it decreases the duration of empirical treatment, adjusts the administration of adequate antibiotics and reduces hospitalization times.
HEMATOLOGY - Quantification of Hemoglobin S in Catlab
Hemoglobin S is a beta-globin variant. It is a hereditary pathology and can be present in heterozygous and homozygous form, as well as combined with other mutations. The homozygous form is the most severe, and as a treatment, patients require frequent transfusions. In Catlab, Hemoglobin S can be quantified by two main methods: HPLC and electrophoresis.
HEMATOLOGY - The lupus anticoagulant in Catlab
The Lupus anticoagulant is a coagulation test in which the presence of antibodies that may interfere with phospholipid coagulation reactions and which are a risk factor for thromboembolic diseases. Through the study of the results of lupus Anticoagulants performed at Catlab, we have reached a series of conclusions and recommendations for its request.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY - Apolipoprotein E genotype and Alzheimer's disease
Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is a protein of 299 amino acids constituted by a single polypeptide chain. ApoE is involved in the transport of cholesterol and other lipids in various tissues. It is the major apolipoprotein expressed in brain tissue, mainly in neuroglia. Polymorphic variations ApoE locus act as inherited risk factors and genetic susceptibility affect Alzheimer's disease.
URGENT CARE - Hemolysis index calculation. Applications in Catlab
One of the clinical laboratory objectives is to inform biological values with high accuracy. Therefore, it must be guaranteed that samples are biological free from interference, such as hemolysis. In Catlab, rates of hemolysis informed by the manufacturer have been incorporated into computer systems laboratory, so that before an analytical result is validated, it will check whether the degree of hemolysis of the sample exceeds the threshold beyond which the result may be affected.
QUALITY - Customer satisfaction measure
During the years 2012-2015, Catlab has made a plan for measuring customer satisfaction; surveys have been conducted to different groups of primary care CST, HUMT and ICS. Here are the results of 8 consensual questions related to perception and assessment of the laboratory.
MICROBIOLOGY - Urinary tract infection. New circuit in Catlab
Urinary tract infections are one of the most frequent infectious diseases. The diagnosis of UTI is based on three factors: the patient's symptoms, examination of the formed elements of urine and urine culture. To optimize the microbiological diagnosis of UTI, a retrospective study of all urine cultures obtained by spontaneous urination was performed to set breakpoints that would allow rule planting negative urine cultures and no significant bacteriuria with sensitivity ≥ 95%. From the results, it is proposed to make a screening urine culture, which exclude the cultivation of all urine samples obtained by spontaneous urination, which leucocyte esterase or nitrites are not detected.
QUALITY - Accreditation of clinical laboratories according to ISO 15189
UNE-EN ISO 15189: 2013 is an international standard that specifies requirements for the competence and quality of clinical laboratories. In particular, it recognizes the technical competence of the laboratory analysis of specific magnitudes. Applying strict quality requirements demanded by ISO 15189 accreditation affects all processes in the laboratory (preanalytical, analytical and postanalíticos) and has been a major effort, both by the entity as of our professionals.
HORMONES - Progesterone. New reference values.
Currently, in Catlab, measurement of serum progesterone is performed on the Cobas 602 8000_e Roche Diagnostic (Elecsys), by a chemoluminescence immunoassay method (ECLIA). In order to improve the quality of the results obtained in our laboratory, we will proceed to replace the current reagent by a new reagent which have been changed its rat monoclonal antibodies into sheep monoclonal antibodies with greater specificity.
IMMUNOLOGY - Review of Prenatal Screening in Catlab
Since September 2015, the first-trimester prenatal screening for Down syndrome and Edwards syndrome, is done with a new method and a new calculation program. A comparative between the previous program Lifecycle Perkin Elmer and the new Ssdwlab6 Roche was made satisfactorily. And minimum requirements for imprecision and inaccuracy for biochemical markers were established with the new method of electrochemiluminescence with optimum results.