Corrigendum to: Impact of reference change value (RCV) based autoverification on turnaround time and physician satisfaction.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.11613/BM.2017.037.].

Impact of reference change value (RCV) based autoverification on turnaround time and physician satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: For a quicker delivery of laboratory test results to the hospital emergency department (ED), we implemented an autoverification system based on the reference change value (RCV). The aim of this study was to assess how the RCV based autoverification reflected on turnaround time (TAT) and on physician satisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The laboratory information system (LIS) was programmed to autoverify the results as long as they were within the range settled by RCV, so that the autoverified results were reported to the physician as soon as the tests were carried out, without any further intervention. We analyzed the same three-month periods' TAT and verification time (VFT) from the years prior to and following the implementation of RCV autoverification. The change in physicians' satisfaction levels was assessed using the hospital's Annual Physician Satisfaction Survey (APSS). Over sixty percent of physicians completed the questionnaire, and the amount of daily ED test requests (nearly three hundred) did not vary throughout the duration of this study. RESULTS: Mann-Whitney U test showed that the VFT was significantly reduced in all the test but troponin I. There were substantial reductions in TAT medians (haemogram, 75%; fibrinogen, 41%; prothrombin time, 40%; sodium, 27%). The percentage of physicians satisfied with the haematological and biochemical tests´ TAT increased from 84% to 93% and from 86% to 91% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results reveal that VFT and TAT were severely reduced in most emergency tests, greatly improving physicians' satisfaction with TAT.

The utility of hyperthermic intra-abdominal chemotherapy with gemcitabine for the inhibition of tumor progression in an experimental model of pancreatic peritoneal carcinomatosis, in relation to their behavior with pancreatic cancer stem cells CD133+ CXCR4.

OBJECTIVE: The origin of pancreatic cancer has been identified as a population of malignant pancreatic stem cells CD133+ CXCR4+ immunophenotype. These cells have high capacity for early locoregional invasion, being responsible for early recurrence and high mortality rates of pancreatic cancer. We propose a study for decreasing tumor progression of pancreatic cancer by reducing the volume and neoplastic subpopulation of pancreatic cancer stem cells CD133+ CXCR4+. Therefore, we develop a new therapeutic model, characterized by the application of HIPEC (Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy) with gemcitabine. DESIGN: Pancreatic tumor cell line: human cell line BxPC-3. The animal model involved 18 immunosuppressed rats 5 weeks weighing 150-200 gr. The implantation of 13 × 10(6) cells/mL was performed with homogeneous distribution in the 13 abdominopelvic quadrants according to the peritoneal carcinomatosis index (PCI) and were randomized into three treatment groups. Group I (4 rats) received intravenous saline. Group II (6 rats) received intravenous gemcitabine. Group III (8 rats) received HIPEC at 41 °C for 30 min with gemcitabine + gemcitabine IV. A histological study confirmed pancreatic cancer and immunohistochemical quantification of pancreatic cancer stem cells CD133+ CXCR4+ tumor cells. RESULTS: There was a population decline of pancreatic cancer stem cells CD133+ CXCR4+ in the HIPEC group with respect to the other two groups (p < 0.001). There was a decrease in PCI between treatment groups (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The initial results are encouraging since there is a declining population of cancer stem cells CD133+ CXCR4+ in the HIPEC group and decreased tumor volume compared to the other two treatment groups. All the conclusions are only valid for BxPC3 cell line, and the effects HIPEC on Kras-driven pancreatic tumors remain to be determined.

A multicentre analysis of four low-density lipoprotein cholesterol direct assays in samples with extreme high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations.

BACKGROUND: Although LDL-C has been traditionally estimated using the Friedewald formula (FF), several direct homogeneous assays have been developed to overcome the limitations of this formula and the complicated manual procedure required in the reference method. However, several differences have been reported between these assays in certain situations. METHODS: Two groups of 105 samples with extreme low and high HDL-C concentrations were processed, employing four different instruments and with the reagents for total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-C and LDL-C provided by the distinct manufacturers. RESULTS: Statistical tests indicated important differences between HDL-C and LDL-C homogeneous methods. Poor correlation, significant bias and high discrepancy in cardiovascular disease risk classification were observed for LDL-C direct assays in the low HDL-C group, whereas better results were obtained when comparing LDL-C levels estimated with the FF. In contrast, three of the four instruments generated LDL-C direct results with a good agreement in the high HDL-C group, even though an appreciable misclassification percentage in risk categories must be taken into account. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that extreme low or high HDL-C levels can represent a non-previously described source of variation between commercially available LDL-C homogeneous assays.