The following information was updated in the Lab Catalog.
All changes are for Corewell Health Laboratories West.
The following information was updated in the Lab Catalog.
All changes are for Corewell Health Laboratories West.
As of January 26, 2024, for the following tests, the testing platform has changed from EliA Fluorescence Enzyme Immunoassay (FEIA) from Thermofisher to Multiplex Flow Immunoassay from Biorad. Please review the lab catalog for any changes to collection information or reference ranges.
• Anti-dsDNA Antibody
• Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide (CCP) Antibody
• Celiac Antibody Cascade
• Tissue Transglutaminase Antibody
• Gliadin Antibodies
Written by Yasel Fleitas Alvarez, Ph.D., Chemistry Clinical Advisor, Corewell Health Reference Laboratory West, Michigan Pathology Specialists.
This January we are celebrating the National Thyroid Awareness Month. In United States of America, it is estimated that approximately 20 million people have thyroid disease and most importantly, according to the American Thyroid Association (ATA) as many as 60% of people suffering from a thyroid disorder are not aware they have it.The thyroid is a butterfly shaped-gland located at the front of the neck that produces and release thyroid hormones (See Figure 1).
It regulates important physiological functions as:
Thyroid disease can present in two main forms:
Confirmation or exclusion of thyroid disease requires a clinical examination combined with biochemical determination of thyroid hormones (TH) and thyrotropin (TSH)concentrations.
In this blog we discuss the best practices for ordering thyroid function tests for the initial screening of thyroid disease at Corewell Health.
On 10/31/23, a change was made to lab specimen labels, which included a patient’s preferred name on the label, if it is documented in Epic. This highlighted a change in the names of label types seen by staff when reprinting specimen labels in Epic. Due to a mix of Intermec and Zebra printers across the entire Corewell Health system, defaults needed to be removed from Epic build to account for these differences. Users will now be required to manually choose the correct label type when reprinting labels. The Collection Activity behavior should remain the same.
As a reminder, referral testing, tests that are sent to another laboratory to perform, is dependent on the weather. Inclement weather can affect both the turnaround time of testing, and the testing capabilities of the organization. Our referral testing is dependent on outside transportation facilities (such as FedEx and UPS). When those organizations face challenges in weather, our testing capabilities must remain flexible.
If there is inclement weather in and around Memphis, TN (the main FedEx hub), there may be delays and cancellations of testing. We will try our best to communicate these changes as soon as possible via our blog: https://lab.spectrumhealth.org/
For any questions or concerns please “Contact Us” via the link above.
Effective January 17, 2024, UFH Anti-IIa testing will be performed at both Corewell Health Reference Laboratory West and Blodgett Immediate Response Laboratory in Grand Rapids.
The following information was updated in the Lab Catalog.
Effective December 20, 2023, Rheumatoid Factor, IgM, Quantitative will be replaced with Rheumatoid Factor.
Influenza cases numbers are currently increasing throughout West Michigan. Influenza prevalence guides the most appropriate testing approach and sufficient prevalence has now been reached for influenza rapid antigen or point of care testing (e.g. Sofia instrument) to have improved performance. The use of point of care testing as a screening method during high prevalence reduces both the cost to the patient and turn-around-time as compared to lab-based molecular methods. Point of care tests generally have high analytical specificity, but lack the sensitivity of nucleic acid amplification methods (e.g. PCR). For this reason, PCR testing is still recommended for hospitalized patients and for outpatients with a negative result if influenza is still suspected and if the result will impact clinical decision making.
Low influenza prevalence | High influenza prevalence | |
Recommended order | Influenza PCR | Influenza Point of Care Testing or Influenza PCR |