Necrotising colitis related to clozapine? A rare but life threatening side effect.

We report here a case of a 34-year-old gentleman who developed right-sided necrotising colitis after clozapine usage. Anticholinergic activity is believed to the cause. We believe that in patients who have been consuming medications known to have an association with necrotising colitis, constipation with concomitant increasing abdominal pain, distension and fever should be treated with a strong index of suspicion. Consideration of necrotising colitis should prompt expeditious resection of the affected colonic segment.

Evaluating software for the clinical laboratory.

A set of guidelines to assist in structuring the software-evaluation process is presented. In recent years, laboratory professionals have increasingly assumed responsibility for the evaluation of software to be used in the laboratory for patient testing or administrative functions. This is a positive trend that brings user expertise to the selection of computer software but one that mandates the development of appropriate software evaluation procedures on the part of laboratory personnel. Software should be chosen that best conforms to the needs of the laboratory. Proper evaluation of available software is critical. Documentation should be reviewed, the software should be tested, capabilities must be compared with accrediting or licensing bodies' standards, and vendor support should be assessed. Development of a well-defined procedure for software evaluation will ensure selection of software that solves, not creates, problems.