American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC)

Increasingly, infections pose complex problems for clinicians, especially those treating patients in the ICU. While they want to treat patients with pneumonia or bacteremia with the right antibiotic—and not contribute to growing antibiotic resistance—often they must wait days before they’ll know which pathogen patients have and the right drug to use. For patients who are very ill, empiric therapy has serious risks.

After 4 years of work, the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM, formerly AACC), in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association, released an update to their evidence-based guidelines and recommendations to diagnose and manage patients with diabetes using the most recent laboratory analysis tools (Clin Chem 2023;69:777-84). The guidelines replace previous versions published in 2002 and 2011.

On October 10, the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM, formerly AACC) hosted a congressional briefing where experts in laboratory medicine described the need for more accurate pediatric reference intervals (PRIs) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) plan for addressing this problem.

As data science explodes worldwide, laboratory medicine is well positioned to frame discussions about data maintenance and access. After all, within the healthcare sector, clinical laboratories produce the most numeric data to manage and diagnose diseases. That said, healthcare is rightfully conservative based on the “do no harm” maxim, so it’s important to incorporate data science into routine workflows carefully.

Listen to the JALMTalk Podcast Your browser does not support the audio element. Listen in Apple Podcasts. Article Caitlin R Ondracek, Jonathan R Genzen, Christina M Lockwood, Saswati Das, Phillip Kang, and Stacy E F Melanson. Robust Response of the Clinical Laboratory to the COVID-19 Pandemic despite Significant Challenges. J Appl Lab Med 2023; 8(6): 1160–72. Guest Dr. Stacy Melanson from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Mass General Brigham Enterprise Laboratory Services, and Harvard Medical School.

This Scientific Short is an update to What is the current state of reference intervals in Canada? A need for harmonization provided by the original author. Harmonization of the total testing process in laboratory medicine is of utmost importance to ensure high quality and consistent patient care. While great attention has been given to harmonizing and standardizing the analytical phase, there has been a lack of harmonization in the post-analytical phase, specifically of reference intervals.

Cirrhosis represents the final stage of liver fibrosis, characterized by the destruction of the liver's structural integrity. Various factors can lead to this condition, including alcohol-related disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), chronic viral hepatitis, and cholestatic liver disease.

This live webinar is scheduled in Eastern Time (ET). Convert to your time zone It will also be available on demand through November 30, 2024. Description Sexually transmitted infections (STI) are some of the most difficult infections to control due to their ability to go undiagnosed in asymptomatic individuals, resulting in ongoing transmission and spread.

This live webinar is scheduled in Eastern Time (ET). Convert to your time zone It will also be available on demand through December 31, 2024 following the live webinar. Description Next generation sequencing (NGS) has transformed the practice of molecular diagnostics and is now an approach utilized across multiple disciplines, including genetics, oncology, and infectious disease.