Download >>> https://byltly.com/283xoo
Sometimes you just need to get a sample of your blood and urine. Other times, you go to the lab for a complete work-up. Regardless of what type of testing is involved — the results will be the same — clinical chemistry. Clinical chemistry can be therapeutic or diagnostic in nature, and it's used in all areas of medicine: Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Cardiology and Geriatrics/Gerontology (among others). As with any test, clinical chemistry is interpreted in context. The clinical chemistry work-up is an important step in the overall evaluation of your health. It's therefore important that you understand the purpose of each test and be able to answer questions about it. (It's not easy.) To perform a proper work-up, clinical chemists need to know: 1) how to identify biochemical abnormalities, 2) how to interpret biochemistry results, and 3) how to interpret clinical findings. A brief overview of each element follows. Biochemical abnormalities Any abnormal biochemical finding must be interpreted in context. For example, a patient with elevated liver enzymes has an increased risk of hepatitis. Also, much laboratory testing involves the comparison of results to reference ranges: normal vs. abnormal. Reference ranges are numerical expressions that tell you what is considered normal and abnormal in a particular test (for example, a normal serum glucose concentration ranges between 60 and 420 mg/dL; an elevated level is greater than or equal to 140 mg/dL). Every abnormal result is compared to the range value (for example, "an elevated serum glucose concentration is 95% greater than the reference value"). The results are then classified as significant (high) or borderline (low). Other times, reference ranges are expressed as percentiles (e.g., 90th percentile). Interpretation of results Interpreting the results is where the clinical chemist comes in. Going back to our example — an elevated serum glucose concentration — we can break down the results by determining: 1) what is abnormal and 2) what is significant. Elevated serum glucose concentration: Abnormal: yes Significant: no. The test result does not fall outside of the reference range, so it's considered normal. Clinical findings Clinical findings are usually presented in a problem-oriented medical history (also called history of present illness or HPI). The HPI is a summary of the patient's chief complaint and is usually presented as a list of questions. The patient's responses are used to identify main issues and classify the HPI as a specific type. Depending on the issue, blood tests, radiology/imaging studies, and/or other diagnostic tools may be needed. The clinical chemists behind these diagnoses Mystery Case (MC): The patient is an 8-year-old girl who presents with anorexia and malaise. Physical exam: She has no respiratory problems; however, she has abdominal pain with epigastric tenderness. cfa1e77820
Comments