Category: Clinical pathology

Historically, serum proteins like prealbumin have been widely used by clinicians to determine a patient's nutritional status. However, this practice is now subject to considerable debate, with the scientific community recognizing significant limitations that challenge prealbumin's reliability as a sole biomarker.

Refeeding syndrome is a potentially fatal condition that occurs when a severely malnourished individual begins receiving nutrition, and research shows that monitoring specific laboratory findings is crucial for early detection. The metabolic shifts trigger a rapid decrease in serum levels of key electrolytes, which can lead to severe organ dysfunction if not managed properly.

Scientific studies have long shown that a patient's dietary habits are a key variable affecting laboratory test results, proving that, yes, can diet affect reference intervals. This influence can range from temporary fluctuations due to a single meal to significant long-term shifts in baseline levels, necessitating a thorough understanding of a patient's nutritional context for accurate clinical diagnosis.

According to research, malnutrition is present in up to 50% of critically ill children, yet a reliable and simple diagnostic tool remains elusive. While once considered a direct nutritional indicator, medical consensus now questions the reliability of prealbumin as a marker of malnutrition due to its complex response to inflammation.

Deficiencies in vitamin B12, or cobalamin, are a leading cause of megaloblastic anemia, a condition characterized by impaired DNA synthesis. This defect profoundly affects rapidly dividing cells, most notably those in the bone marrow, leading to distinctive morphological changes visible on a peripheral blood smear. Identifying these characteristic peripheral smear findings is a crucial step in the diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency and distinguishing it from other types of anemia.

Hemolysis is the most common reason for blood sample rejection in clinical laboratories, representing a significant source of pre-analytical error. This process of red blood cell breakdown significantly impacts the accuracy of many blood tests, including those for 25-hydroxyvitamin D, potentially leading to a misdiagnosis of a patient's vitamin D status.