A Guide to Laboratory Investigations, 6th Edition

Michael McGhee MB BS LRCP MRCS DRCOG CertGAM FRCGP DOccMED

Preface. Glossary. Introduction. Laboratory tests in certain clinical situations. Liver screen. Suspected irritable bowel syndrome. PMR ESR raised. Pruritus in the elderly. Coeliac annual screen. Recurrent miscarriage. Children with growing pains. Claudication. Dementia screen. Phaeochromocytoma. Paget's disease. Hirsutism. Chronic fatigue syndrome. Unexplained weight loss. Myeloma. Erectile dysfunction. Tinnitus. Malaria. SLE. Osteoporosis. Pruritus. Hypertension. Gynaecomastia. Unexplained loss of consciousness. MGUS. Patient taking a statin. Hyperparathyroidism. CKD monitoring. Investigations following an unexplained low-risk DVT. Haematology. Referring to a haematologist. Cases that the haematologist must see. Red cell indices. Anaemia. White cell indices. Platelets. Blood coagulation tests. Warfarin in practice. Thrombophilia. Haemoglobinopathies. Common haematological terms. Microbiology. Gastrointestinal organisms. Urogenital organisms. Fungal nail disease. Other organisms. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Fertility and pregnancy testing. Female hormone profiles. Semen analysis. Pregnancy tests. Rhesus blood group testing. Alpha-fetoproteins. Rheumatology and immunology. Testing for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Hepatitis B. Autoantibodies. Initiation and monitoring of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Biochemistry. Liver function tests (LFTs). Faecal urobilinogen. Urea and electrolytes. Chronic kidney disease (CKD). Urine biochemistry. Blood sugar. Cardiac troponins. Creatine kinase (CK). Lactic dehydrogenase (LDH). Thyroid function tests. Blood lipids. Faecal fats. Coeliac disease. Miscellaneous. Therapeutic target ranges of commonly monitored drugs. Interpretation of cervical smears. Urinalysis.   Microscopic haematuria. Faecal occult blood. Investigation of leg ulcers. Interpreting DEXA scans in screening for osteoporosis. Index.