Articles related to TESTING/LABS

“We may be the only specialty that continues to do major abdominal surgery without a shred of evidence of benefit.” —Steven Clark, MD, Baylor College of Medicine

“The main scenario that prompts me to use apoB is when a patient’s traditional lipid panel values are either normal, or even slightly abnormal, but have discrepancy with the quality/quantity of their other comorbid problems.” — Austin Shuxiao, MD

Vaginal fluid collection via tampon under clinical supervision followed by bisulfite conversion and long-probe quantitative amplified signal assays for methylated DNA marker analysis.

Blood biomarker testing offers 91.7% accuracy in detecting amyloid plaques while providing more accessible alternative to cerebrospinal fluid analysis, though confirmation via PET or CSF remains necessary for indeterminate results.

Conditions that warrant gastrointestinal pathogen panel testing include fever, visible blood in the stool, sepsis, severe abdominal pain, hospitalization, persistent diarrhea (≥ 7 days), advanced age, and immunocompromise.

“Many factors external to the thyroid gland can modulate these diverse effects, making it difficult to assess the thyroid status of patients solely on clinical grounds.”