Setting the global standard of diagnostic care
At Mayo Clinic Laboratories, we believe all patients deserve access to world-class diagnostic care. We work with hospitals and healthcare providers around the world to deliver unparalleled expertise and innovative diagnostic evaluations that solve the most complicated cases.
Fully integrated with Mayo Clinic and backed by more than 150 years of clinical experience, Mayo Clinic Laboratories was built upon a tradition of knowledge sharing to improve healthcare around the world. When you work with us, you gain access to the world’s most sophisticated test menu, world-renowned experts, and educational opportunities to strengthen your practice, advance knowledge, and improve patient outcomes.
Focused on quality
At Mayo Clinic Laboratories, test development is based on patient need and guided by quality management protocols modeled on standards and guidelines from the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Our extensive test validation includes a breadth of specimens with rare abnormalities. Our laboratories are CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited, and we participate in U.S. and international proficiency programs.
Commitment to education
The exchange of knowledge is a founding principle of Mayo Clinic. In this tradition, we provide a wide range of educational offerings to help our clients increase understanding.
- Regionally based clinical specialists guide best practices through physician education.
- Access to Mayo Clinic Laboratories education and insight articles.
- Many courses offer CME credits.
- Online trainings are available, such as “Dangerous Goods Shipping,” with printable certificates.
Enhanced patient outcomes
Mayo Clinic Laboratories is dedicated to the health and well-being of our patients, which means helping providers deliver care in their local settings through the utilization of our comprehensive subspecialty test menu. Our mission is grounded in our belief that the patient’s needs are paramount, and our clients receive access to:
- Expert-developed algorithms that ensure the right patient receives the right test.
- Testing for rare and complex conditions, with some of that testing exclusive to Mayo Clinic Laboratories.
- Expeditious results due to continuous test processing.
“We treat all of the specimens we receive with the same high degree of care and quality, regardless of where the sample is coming from. We could be testing a sample from a patient that lives in Rochester, Minnesota, or from someone that lives halfway across the world.”
Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory
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On Tuesday, June 24, the mayocliniclabs.com website will feature a refreshed homepage. Incorporating valuable feedback from users, the site has been redesigned it to highlight the most frequently used features and content. The aim to enhance user experience with a more intuitive, visually appealing, and responsive website. These new features will make it easier to find information and complete tasks.
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing determines whether these bacteria are susceptible or resistant to a particular antibiotic. Bacteria are added onto plates of solid agar, where each plate has a different and increasing concentration of antibiotic than the previous plate. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is the lowest concentration of an antimicrobial that inhibits growth of the bacteria.
In June 2019, Mayo Clinic Laboratories announced three new tests along with numerous reference value changes, obsolete tests, and algorithm changes.
David Viswanatha, M.D., a hematopathologist and co-director of the molecular hematology and complete genome sequencing laboratories at Mayo Clinic, provides an overview of BCR/ABL1 testing, discusses the best testing methods, NCCN/ELN criteria guidelines, why FISH testing is no longer routinely available at Mayo Clinic, and what test to order at what time for CML patients.
In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Robin Patel, M.D., discusses the FilmArray meningitis/encephalitis (ME) panel, describing the panel, her experience with it, and an algorithm for its use.
Mayo Clinic Laboratories is the only laboratory in the world to offer testing for a novel form of autoimmune meningoencephalomyelitis. Known as autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) astrocytopathy, the condition was identified by Mayo Clinic in 2016. The GFAP antibody test is offered as part of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ encephalitis and myelopathy evaluations.
Rondell P. Graham, M.B.B.S., gives an overview of this test available through Mayo Clinic Laboratories. He discusses when this testing should be ordered, how this testing improves upon previous testing approaches, what clinical action can be taken due to the results of this testing.
Patients with autoimmune myelopathy present with subacute onset and rapid progression of spinal cord symptoms (weakness, gait difficulties, loss of sensation, neuropathic pain, and bowel and bladder dysfunction). Autoimmune myelopathy evaluation of serum and spinal fluid can assist in the diagnosis and aid distinction from other causes of myelopathy (multiple sclerosis, sarcoidosis, and vascular disease). Early diagnosis may assist in diagnosis of occult cancer, prompt initiation of immune therapies, or both.
In May 2019, Mayo Clinic Laboratories announced four new tests along with numerous reference value changes, obsolete tests, and algorithm changes.
Mayo Clinic Laboratories is one of the few laboratories in the country to offer two special sequencing-based tests for bacteria in its catalog. The first test is designed to help protect patients by investigating potential outbreaks of a single bacterial species or by identifying recurrent infections in an individual patient. The second has the ability to detect DNA of any bacteria to help identify the cause of an infection.
Antibodies to aquaporin-4 and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) are recently described biomarkers seen in a subset of atypical optic neuritis which have revolutionized our understanding of the condition. In this “Hot Topic,” my colleague, Dr. John Chen, will review these advances and how they impact the clinical care of our patients with optic neuritis.
The standard test for the diagnosis of narcolepsy is the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT). The MSLT is a complex test to perform as well as to interpret. The orexin-A/hypocretin-1 test is a sensitive and specific alternative to the MSLT to diagnose type 1 narcolepsy.
The presence NTRK gene fusions is one of the eligibility requirements for the recently FDA-approved therapy Vitrakvi (larotrectinib), a therapy indicated in adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors regardless of the type of tumor. NTRK gene fusions have been described in many cancers at various frequencies including common cancers such as lung, thyroid, and colorectal cancers.