VIVA

Question 1

Give some examples of drugs that we monitor

Answer 1

Antimicrobials - Vancomycin
Anti-rejection drugs - Tacrolimus + sirolimus
Heart failure drugs - Digoxin

Question 2

Write about digoxin

Answer 2

A cardiac glucoside
Used to treat heart problems such as atrial defibrillation and to prevent heart failure
It works by slowing down and controlling the heart rate
Very narrow therapeutic index between 0.8 and 2 ngl/ml

Question 3

What tumour markers did you come across

Answer 3

C19.9 -> pancreatic cancer
HCG -> testicular cancer
CEA -> prognostic marker
CA125 -> ovarian cancer
CA15.3 -> breast cancer

Question 4

What is the equation for anion gap?

Answer 4

(Na + K) – (Cl- + HCO3-)

Question 5

Why measure an ionised magnesium?

Answer 5

More sensitive
Determines risk of arythmia

Question 6

Why measure cholesterol:hdl ratio

Answer 6

More accurate prediction of cardiovascular health

Question 7

Transferrin vs saturated transferrin

Answer 7

Transferrin is the protein which binds to iron in circulation

Saturated tranferrin is the ratio of serum iron and total iron binding capacity expressed as a percentage

St is more accurate representation of iron status

Question 8

Explain ISE

Answer 8

an analytical technique used to determine the activity of ions in aqueous solution by measuring the electrical potential

Electrodes are made selective by a selectively permeable membrane

The activity of the ions is determined by measuring the electrical potential of the ions between electrodes