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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Assessment of clinical laboratory techniques in the measurement of oxygen saturation in whole blood.

The accuracy and advantages of determining percentage of hemoglobin oxygen saturation of whole blood by advanced instruments of oximetry, gas chromatography, and the computation of oxygen saturation from pO2 and pH data are compared with the Van Slyke-Neill manometric method. It was found that oximetry is extremely fast, less expensive, and more accurate than in the past, the apparatus requires little training to operate and has diminutive service maintenance. The gas chromatograph proved to be highly accurate and could serve as a standard calibration check method in place of the more time-consuming Van Slyke-Neill apparatus for oximetry and pO2 and pH electrode instrumentation. Computation of O2 saturation from pO2 and pH data also proved to be accurate, confirming that this method is more useful during cardiac surgery because it can provide additional acid-base information. In the low oxygen saturation range (less than 60%), all three methods proved to be of similar sensitivity.

Chromatography, Gas

Evaluation of mycobacteriology laboratories: the acid-fast smear.

In a proficiency testing program, slides bearing acid-fast bacilli were sent to laboratories in New York State. The most reliable results were obtained in laboratories using the Ziehl-Neelsen method. Cold staining procedures were less reliable. The auramine-rhodamine fluorescent stain, which produced many false positives, should be confirmed by the Ziehl-Neelsen procedure. The testing program described can be used to determine whether laboratories perform the acid-fast stain effectively.

Bacteriological Techniques

Evaluation of blood culture procedures in a pediatric hospital.

To determine optimal clinical laboratory techniques for detecting pediatric bacteremia, we studied 7,768 consecutive blood cultures in a 1-year period. Blood was inoculated into one vented 50-ml bottle of brucella broth with 0.05% sodium polyanetholsulfonate and one unvented 50-ml bottle of Columbia broth with 0.05% sodium polyanetholsulfonate and 0.05% cysteine. Bottles were visually examined for growth on days 1 through 7 and blindly subcultured aerobically and anaerobically on days 1, 2, and 7. There were 724 (9.3%) positive cultures, and 484 (6.2%) were clinically significant. The most frequent isolates from bacteremic patients were Haemophilus influenzae (24%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (17%). Growth was noted in only one bottle in 25% of clinically significant isolates. Bottles inoculated with greater than or equal to 1 ml of blood became positive earlier than bottles inoculated with less than 1 ml. After 1 day of incubation, 48% of the clinically significant cultures showed growth on visual examination, whereas 85% showed growth on subculture. Only 19% of Haemophilus isolates were detected visually on day 1, whereas 88% were recovered on subculture. By day 7, 3.5% of all isolates (including 18% of pneumococcal isolates and 1% of Haemophilus isolates) could no longer be recovered on subculture. We conclude that a two-bottle blood culture system and blind subculture within 24 h will optimize detection of pediatric bacteremia.

Bacteria

Laboratory diagnosis in the problem of suspected gonococcal infection.

Proper laboratory techniques are indispensable for the diagnosis and detection of gonorrhea. While the smear is efficacious in diagnosing symptomatic urethral gonorrhea in men, it is not reliable for cervical, rectal, pharyngeal, or asymptomatic urethral infection. We have seen the development of four systems of culturing geared toward the office practitioner or where a complete laboratory is not available. They are as follows: Transgrow (transport), Neigon JEMBEC (transport or nontransport), Isocult, and Microcult systems. The Neigon JEMBEC system offers a good choice for the office practitioner. The use of proper diagnostic and culturing techniques and routine screening should bring about an increase in the amount of gonorrhea detected, treated, and subsequently removed from the reservoir of infection.

Bacteriological Techniques

Cromolyn sodium in the treatment of asthma: its effectiveness and use.

Thirty-six asthmatic children received placebo and cromolyn sodium, a new drug, in a double-blind crossover study; the majority were not using corticosteroids. Significant decreases in wheezing, breathlessness at rest, and cough occurred when the active drug was compared to placebo. Marked preference for cromolyn over placebo was expressed at the end of the study. Our results agree with previous reports on the effectiveness of cromolyn sodium. We found this drug to be especially useful as an adjunct to other treatment in the control of asthmatic children.

Administration, Intranasal

The selection of healthy volunteers for clinical investigation: the case for volunteer pools.

Discussions on the healthy volunteer in clinical investigation do not attempt to define normality. In 34 healthy volunteers, 1653 biochemical and haematological tests were performed. The incidence of abnormal results was 11%. Only 4 subjects had all tests within normal limits and when these repeated only 1 subject still had all results within normal limits. The authors recommend that a stable volunteer pool, with regular physical examinations and blood tests, would provide a large, serial data base for use in subject selection for clinical trials. Attention should be given to human error. Protocols should be realistic, while ensuring the safety of volunteers.

Adult

Laboratory diagnosis and monitoring of rheumatologic diseases.

Improved laboratory investigative techniques now foster an increased clinical interest in and awareness of the rheumatologic disease. This review is a discussion of the relevance of laboratory tests used in the more common rheumatologic disorders and of their role in both the diagnosis and assessment of these diseases from the standpoint of the practising clinician.

Amyloidosis

Clinical relevance of different electrophoretic methods for the analysis of urinary proteins.

Three electrophoretic techniques are usually available in the clinical laboratories for the qualitative investigation of urinary protein patterns: 1) acetate cellulose, 2) immuno-electrophoresis; and 3) SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Proteinuria (the excretion of proteins in excess of 150 mg/day or 100 microgram/min) usually signifies either increased permeability of the glomerular-capillary membrane of diminished tubular reabsorption. Since glomerular disease is associated with an increased clearance of albumin and higher molecular weight proteins, whereas tubular damage is associated with the predominant excretion of proteins of lower molecular weight than albumin, it seems logical to establish a classification of proteinuria according to the molecular weight of its constituents. One can thus basically distinguish 5 types of proteinurias: 1) physiological; 2) tubular; 3) selective glomerular; 4) non selective glomerular; and 5) mixed proteinurias. Additionally one must distinguish "myeloma proteinurias" where monoclonal complete or incomplete gamma-globulins are found in the urine. Clinically it may be useful to determine the qualitatively normal or pathologic character of a quantitatively normal proteinuria, especially in the following conditions: 1) for early diagnosis of nephropathy in patients, such as diabetics, which are particularly prone to suffer from renal complications; 2) to confirm the clinical cure or to predict the recurrence of renal diseases; and 3) in such situations as orthostatic, or myeloma proteinuria, or any elevation of the urinary protein output of unknown etiology.

Clinical Laboratory Techniques