Blogs

The Artery is your community for finding solutions to your day-to-day clinical chemistry questions. Last month, several answers were found to questions ranging from “How many IO-PTHs do others run at their hospitals?” to “What instruments do labs use to report the pH on cord blood specimens?” Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in October. Intraoperative PTH Volume? Initiated by @Charles Beavers, MD How many IO-PTHs do others run at their hospitals, and at what volume does it make sense to have a stat lab for this test? Other institutes run anywhere from 1-2 per week to 1-2 per day. Labs in the 1-2 per week range run ...

Last month on the Artery, several solutions were found to questions ranging from “when should a lab perform ioPTH measurements?” to “who should collect sweat chloride specimens?” Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in September. How Late Does Your Laboratory Offer ioPTH Measurements? Initiated by @Joesph Wiencek, PhD The majority of respondents say their labs don’t restrict when they perform intraoperative PTH, but that almost all requests they receive come in during the day shift. One respondent added that his lab is informed about ioPTH testing the day before, while another respondent said her lab has access to the surgery ...

The Artery is a great resource for all AACC members—a place where you can ask your questions and receive prompt, detailed responses. This past month was a very active month on the Artery, with many solutions shared. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in August. Immunoglobulins Initiated by @Liliana D Agostino, BSc, MSc In an immunofixation electrophoresis for a patient with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, an additional band appeared with beta mobility characterized as immunoglobin G without kappa and lambda chains. Several respondents think this might be evidence for gamma heavy chain disease, with one respondent suggesting that ...

The Essence: The Best of June 2019 The Artery is a great resource to all AACC members, a place where you can ask your questions and receive detailed prompt responses. This past month there were several solutions shared including, “QFT Gold Plus – Do You Collect Four Tubes or One Tube?”. Read on for our editor’s picks of the best discussions on the Artery in June. QFT Gold Plus – Do You Collect Four Tubes or One Tube? Initiated by @Jennifer Thebo, PhD, MT (ASCP) One respondent’s lab collects a single tube. When they used to collect four tubes, they were sending a lot of QFT tubes to clients and not getting all of the tubes back before they expired. With ...

The Essence: The Best of May 2019 May was a busy month on the Artery, resulting in the highest number of total posts (including both new posts and replies) that we’ve had all year. To what do we credit this success? To you, the AACC members who understand that the Artery is a valuable resource where you can ask your tough questions and get the feedback and responses you need. In case you missed some of the solutions found on the Artery last month, below are our editor’s summaries of the May highlights. Patient Request to “Take Back” Blood Drawn During Hospital Stay Initiated by @Janet Simons, MD, FRCPC What do labs do when patients request that their blood ...

The Artery continues to be a great member benefit where you can receive solutions to your most perplexing questions.  This past month several solutions were shared including "How do labs reduce pre-analytical hemolysis?". Read on for our editor's picks of the best discussions on the Artery in April. PTH Sample to Use: EDTA Plasma or Serum? Initiated by Carmelo Moreno Most labs use EDTA plasma, with one lab taking a separate sample of serum or heparin plasma for calcium determination. Plasma was traditionally thought to be best because specimens could be centrifuged immediately, which presumably inhibited protease action. One lab uses serum, however, and ...

Though I have been an AACC member for 5 years, the past year ended up being the most exciting one I’ve had with the association to date thanks to my time serving as an Artery ambassador. Volunteering as an ambassador has given me the chance to try something new, to contribute to AACC, and to gain confidence and build a real sense of achievement. It presents new challenges every day but is also super fun at the same time. Most significantly, through this role I have become part of the Artery community,where I can connect in real-time with clinical chemists around the world and learn new skills. AACC Artery provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity to share knowledge ...

Dear Artery   members,   I had the recent opportunity and honor to interview Dr.   Nichole Korpi-Steiner, who chairs the SYCL (Society for Young Clinical Laboratorians) core committee and is director of point-of-care testing (POCT) and associate director of the core lab at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill.   In conversing with her I discovered that she is so   calm and nature-friendly, as well as a family and fun-loving person, enjoying BBQ and campfires in her backyard  and exploring the variety of foods we have here in North Carolina. Nichole completed her graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and found the field ...