Introduction to Clinical Pathology

Question 1

what is clinical pathology

Answer 1

study of disease, pathophysiology, and treatment ina clinical environment by the use of laboratory assays

Question 2

what are some laboratory assays used in clinical pathology

Answer 2

CBC
coagulation assays
cytology samples
clinical chemistry assays/ urinalysis

Question 3

what assay is used to evaluate hematopoietic system

Answer 3

CBC

Question 4

what assay is used to evaluate hemostasis

Answer 4

coagulation assay

Question 5

what assay is used to evaluate organs, tumors, lesions

Answer 5

cytology samples

Question 6

what assay is used to evaluate renal, liver, respiratory, cardiovascular, GI, muscular-skeletal and endocrine systems

Answer 6

clinical chemistry assays / urinalysis

Question 7

define pathogenesis

Answer 7

series of events that leads to disease

Question 8

what can alert a pathologic event

Answer 8

changes in tissues, cells, or fluids in abnormal lab data

Question 9

what are the types of assays

Answer 9

qualitative
semiquantitative
quantitative

Question 10

which type of assay will tell you if something is present or absent / positive or negative

Answer 10

qualitative

Question 11

what are some qualitative tests

Answer 11

urinalysis sediment with epithelial cells present
fat droplets detected in a pleural fluid

Question 12

which assay will give an approximate concentration or estimate

Answer 12

semiquantitative

Question 13

what are some examples of semiquantitative assays

Answer 13

platelet estimate on a blood film
urine dipstick measurement of certain analytes

Question 14

which assay will attempt to get a concentration

Answer 14

quantitative

Question 15

true or false:
a reference interval is a range of results we expect to see in healthy animals

Answer 15

true

Question 16

what is a reference interval

Answer 16

an interval between and including the 2 reference limits

Question 17

true or false:
it is difficult to determine normal values for an animal

Answer 17

true

Question 18

what are some variables that can change a reference interval interpretation

Answer 18

too many variable - can have results in WRI with pathological processes
many sick animals have normal data

Question 19

true or false:
an animal not WRI is not reason to suspect pathological state

Answer 19

false
an animal not WRI is a clue for presence of pathologic state

Question 20

what is calculated from a population or group of healthy adult animals of a given species for a given test

Answer 20

population-based reference intervals

Question 21

true or false:
because each WRI is established by each laboratory, you cannot apply ref. interval from other labs because different instruments and methods can give disparate results

Answer 21

true

Question 22

true or false:
all assay results may contain error

Answer 22

true

Question 23

what is the most common error found in assay results

Answer 23

preanalytical errors (50-75% of all errors)

Question 24

what is the goal of a quality assurance program

Answer 24

keep errors so small that they do not affect the interpretation of laboratory data

Question 25

which type of assay result error has test results only as good as the sample

Answer 25

preanalytical errors

Question 26

what are some reasons for preanalytical errors occurring

Answer 26

patient not prepared for sampling poor collection of samples incorrect collection container poor sample handling

Question 27

which type of assay error is a result of poor analytical properties of the assay

Answer 27

analytical errors

Question 28

which type of assay error is a result of transcriptional and verbal report errors

Answer 28

post-analytical errors

Question 29

what determines analytical precision

Answer 29

the repeatability of a test/result

Question 30

what determines the analytical accuracy of a test

Answer 30

if known standards, does the assay produce the expected concentration

Question 31

what determines assay analytical specificity

Answer 31

the ability to detect analyte of interest when interfering substances are present

Question 32

what determines the analytical sensitivity of an assay

Answer 32

the ability to detect differences between concentrations

Question 33

what is the lowest detectable concentration

Answer 33

detection limit

Question 34

what is in whole blood

Answer 34

cells + plasma

Question 35

what is in plasma

Answer 35

93% water and proteins w/ fibrinogen

Question 36

what is in serum

Answer 36

plasma without fibrinogen