ABSTRACT
Background: An alert value is a result suggesting that the patient is at imminent danger unless appropriate remedial actions begin promptly. Report of alert values (AV) by the clinical laboratories has taken special relevance in recent years due to its contribution to patient's care. Aim: To report results of AV informed during 2007 within the Health Network of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Material and methods: Analysis of AV recorded in a centralized database of the laboratories of the health network, between January and December, 2007. Results: Total number of AV was 5.366, which represented 0.3 percent of total examinations and corresponded mainly to the clinical chemistry area. Potassium levels generated the higher number of AV detected, followed by positive blood cultures. Eighty two percent of AV corresponded to hospitalized patients. The greater number of AV was reported to intermediate and intensive care services. Thirty two percent of AV was informed to the physician or professional in charge of the patient within 5 minutes of obtaining the results and 79 percent within 30 minutes. Conclusions: To obtain a real impact on patient management, it is fundamental to shorten the ¡apse between the obtainment of tests results and the warning, supported on appropriate computerized systems, and to spread the procedure to all personnel involved in patient's care (RevMéd Chile 2009; 137: 1137-44).
Subject(s)
Humans , Clinical Laboratory Information Systems , Critical Care , Laboratories, Hospital , Clinical Laboratory Techniques , Academic Medical Centers/organization & administration , Chile , Clinical Laboratory Information Systems/standards , Critical Care/methods , Critical Care/statistics & numerical data , Hospitals, University , Laboratories, Hospital/organization & administration , Laboratory Personnel/organization & administration , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Con el deseo de conocer frecuencia de aparición de Cryptosporidium spp en población pediátrica ambulatoria, se estudia una muestra de 2.728 exámenes de deposición de niños menores de 5 años, del total de muestras recibidas en el Laboratorio de Parasitología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, durante un año. Se utilizó la técnica de Ziehl Neelsen en frío aplicada a deposiciones fijadas según técnica de Teleman o Burrows (PAF)