Our hospital switched to a high sensitivity troponin several months ago. We were given a protocol to use that is a little confusing, so I spent an absurd amount of time reading guidelines to figure out how to safely use this test. This is what I found.
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Interesting Labs; Interesting Case
A 68 year-old man was sent by his PCP for evaluation of abnormal outpatient labs. He had been seen last week for back pain and malaise. We had a look at the labs and the diagnosis was there. Do you see it? What should the next test be?
Continue readingWhat are apheresis platelets?
This question came up in a discussion about a mass transfusion protocol. The goal that we strive to meet is an equal ratio of packed red cells, platelets, and plasma. Most in the discussion seemed to have a general awareness that apheresis platelets count as six units in this 1:1:1 scheme. There was confusion as to why. Let’s clear that up.
Continue readingWhat is a “left shift” anyway?
Hypothetically, let’s say I was signing charts the other day and saw that on a particular patient a resident listed several things as admission diagnoses. One caught my eye.
So, I looked back at the CBC to verify whether or not this patient actually had a left shift, because I suspected there was some confusion happening.
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Searcy EM 