MCL

In February 2017, Mayo Medical Laboratories announced nine brand new tests along with numerous reference-value changes, obsolete tests, and algorithm changes.

We have all been in the position of starting something new: a new class, new hobby, or a new job. Imagine yourself arriving for a new endeavor, entering a vacant room with a set of instructions on the chalkboard to complete some paperwork, signing some forms, and then leaving them in a bin when finished with no additional direction on where to go or what to do next . . . . How would that make you feel? Jeffry Harden, Program Manager in Mayo's Staff Development for Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, discusses best practices for orientation and onboarding.

Mayo Clinic has completed validation of its existing Infliximab Quantitation with Reflex to Antibodies to Infliximab, Serum test for the new biosimilar drug Inflectra. Clients[...]

Mike Baisch, Systems Engineer at Mayo Clinic, discusses the mechanics of performing a staffing-to-workload analysis in the testing laboratories. There are three primary areas of focus with staffing needs: direct effort, indirect effort, and operational needs. This post focuses on indirect effort.

Laboratories face increasing pressure to automate their operations as they are challenged by a continuing increase in workload, a need to reduce expenditure, and a demand for accuracy and improved turnaround time—essentially doing more with less. Mayo Medical Laboratories implemented a sort automation system to ensure continuous testing operations while improving turnaround time, decreasing laboratory errors, and increasing accuracy and throughput.

Greg Widseth was suddenly hit by a rare disease that prompted his immune system to attack his brain cells, resulting in as many as 60 seizures a day. Special blood and spinal fluid tests developed by Mayo Medical Laboratories confirmed that Widseth had antibodies known to target certain brain cells.

The differential diagnosis for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). While the clinical presentation is similar, IBD is an inflammatory disease, while IBS is a noninflammatory disease. View this "Hot Topic" to learn about testing for IBD and IBS.

Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) is a pattern of glomerular injury. Based on the etiology of MPGN, Drs. Sethi and Fervenza proposed a new histologic classification of MPGN into Ig/IC-mediated MPGN and complement-mediated MPGN. In this “Hot Topic,” Senjeev Sethi, M.D., Ph.D., demonstrates the use of the new classification with case studies.

In this “Hot Topic,” Bobbi Pritt, M.D., discusses how Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in the United States and Europe and caused primarily by Borrelia burgdorferi in the United States, while B burgdorferi, B afzelii, and B garinii cause Lyme disease in Europe. We will also discuss using PCR and melting curve analysis to identify a new species of Borrelia.

In this “Hot Topic,” Elitza Theel, Ph.D., discusses how common cases of presumed Lyme disease go unreported each year and discusses scenarios in which testing for Lyme disease is indicated and reviews both recommended and inappropriate testing methodologies. The overall focus is on performance of the CDC endorsed two-tiered serologic testing algorithm and the latest CDC recommendations.

The new Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel, PCR, Feces test is now available to the Mayo Clinic practice and Mayo Medical Laboratories clients.

In this "Hot Topic," Dong Chen, M.D., Ph.D., describes how flow cytometry, electron micrographic study, and molecular testing are used to diagnose platelet function disorders.

The diagnosis of Myeloproliferative Neoplasm (MPN) must include an integrated approach and combine the clinical findings with laboratory results. In our latest “Hot Topic,” Rong He, M.D., discusses the subclassification of MPNs and the use of JAK2, CALR, and MPL mutational analysis in diagnosis and prognosis.