Accurate Results in the Clinical Laboratory

Amitava Dasgupta received his Ph. D in chemistry from Stanford University and completed his fellowship training in Clinical Chemistry from the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine at Seattle. He is board certified in both Toxicology and Clinical Chemistry by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry. Currently, he is a tenured Full Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center and Director of Clinical Laboratories at the University of Kansas Hospital. Prior to this appointment he was a tenured Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Texas McGovern medical School from February 1998 to April 2022. He has 252 papers to his credit. He is in the editorial board of four journals including Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, Clinica Chimica Acta, Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis. Jorge Sepulveda received his M.D. from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and his residency training in Laboratory Medicine and Ph.D. degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He is board certified by the American Board of Pathology in Clinical Pathology and Transfusion Medicine. He has published over 35 research articles, review papers and book chapters, and serves as Associate Editor for the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Dr. Sepulveda has broad experience in laboratory medicine as medical director of various clinical laboratories, including at the Houston and Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and at the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian and Shadyside Hospitals, and currently serves as Associate Medical Director of the Clinical Laboratories at the Columbia University Medical Center Campus of New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Section I: Sources of errors in clinical laboratories: An overview 1. Variation, errors, and quality in the clinical laboratory 2. Errors in patient preparation, specimen collection, anticoagulant and preservative use: how to avoid such pre-analytical errors 3. Sample processing and specimen misidentification issues: major sources of pre-analytical errors 4. Effect of patient-related factors on clinical laboratory test results 5. Interferences of hemolysis, lipemia and high bilirubin on laboratory tests 6. Immunoassay design 7. Overview of other sources of interferences in immunoassays: prozone effect and interferences from heterophilic antibodies and autoantibodies 8. Biotin interference in clinical laboratory tests: sporadic problem or a serious clinical issue?

Section II: Sources of errors in clinical chemistry laboratory 9. Challenges in routine clinical chemistry testing analysis of small molecules 10. Challenges in routine clinical chemistry analysis: proteins and enzymes 11. Challenges in endocrinology testing 12. Pitfalls in testing for common tumor markers

Section III: Sources of errors in therapeutic drug monitoring and toxicology 13. Issues of interferences in therapeutic drug monitoring 14. Limitations of immunoassays for screening of drugs of abuse in urine: issues of false positive and false negative results 15. Challenges in confirmation testing for drugs of abuse 16. Issues of false negative results in toxicology: difficult in detecting certain drugs and issues with detection of synthetic cathinone (bath salts), synthetic cannabinoids (spice), and other new psychoactive substances 17. Ethanol determination using automated analyzers: limitations and pitfalls

Section IV: Herbal medicines and laboratory testings 18. Effects of herbal supplements on clinical laboratory test results

Section V: Sources of errors in immunology laboratory 19. Critical issues in hemoglobinopathy detection and serology testing for HIV and hepatitis infections 20. Sources of errors in immunology and serology testing

Section VI: Sources of errors in molecular, genetic and related testings 21. Sources of error in molecular diagnostic analyses 22. Molecular testing for targeted therapies and pharmacogenomics 23. Challenges and sources of inaccuracy in biochemical genetics testing

Section VII: Sources of errors in microbiology testings 24. Sources of pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical errors in the microbiology laboratory

Section VIII: Sources of errors in hematology and coagulation testings 25. Sources of errors in hematology testing 26. Sources of errors in coagulation testing 27. Sources of errors in flow cytometry

Section IX: Sources of errors in transfusion medicine 28. Interferences in blood bank testing 29. Errors and adverse effects of blood transfusion 30. Methodological issues in point of care testing devices 31. Special concern: sources of inaccuracy in breath alcohol analysis