Background: Term prelabor rupture of membranes (PROM) increases the risk of maternal and neonatal infections. Objective: To compare rates of positive bacterial growth in placental swab cultures done among women who received ampicillin prophylaxis at different timings after term PROM. Design: Matched cohort study. Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, Philippines. Participants: 120 pregnant women aged ≥18 years old, at ≥37 weeks age of gestation, with PROM: 40 women received ampicillin within 6 hours (6H group), 40 within >6 to 12 hours (12H group), and 40 within >12 to 18 hours (18H group) of onset of PROM. Main outcome measures Rates of positive bacterial growth in postpartum placental swab cultures; most common bacterial isolates; and signs of intraamniotic infection (IAI).
Ampicillin ; Specimen Handling

No abstract available.
Otitis Media* ; Otitis* ; Specimen Handling*

No abstract available.
Otitis Media* ; Otitis* ; Specimen Handling*

Humans ; Bone Neoplasms ; Specimen Handling

In order to successfully determine the etiology of fungal disease, proper management in terms of the collection, transport, and processing of clinical specimens should be considered. Inappropriate collection and handling of specimens may induce confusing results and mislead to wrong diagnosis and subsequent failure in the management of the infection. All health care workers involved in obtaining the specimens, collection of them from appropriate sites, and proper labeling of specimen containers should follow appropriate instructions, usually in the form of a specimen collection procedure manual provided by the responsible laboratory. The best specimen for determining the etiologic agent is usually obtained from the active infection site, as with all disease processes. All specimens should be properly labeled with information of the collection, as well as the patient's clinical data. Appropriate transport and storage of specimens are necessary for fungal elements to remain viable for a successful culture. In the laboratory, all acceptable specimens could be processed appropriately before culturing for identification of the etiologic agents. They include direct microscopy, antigen detection procedures and/or direct molecular methods. This review article is devoted to standard recommendations in obtaining, transporting, and processing clinical specimens. In addition, some of the basic procedures of direct microscopy for the clinician is dealt for the clinician.
Delivery of Health C ; Microscopy ; Specimen Handling

The aims of this article was to provide the quality control requirements of preanalytical variation for the determination of lead in samples of human origin, reduce the influence of preanalytical variation on the test results. According to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute documents, control of preanalytical variation in trace element determinations, analytical procedures for the determination of lead in blood and urine and other references and guidelines, the methods of quality control of lead determination had been made, including: the factors needed to be considered before collection, preservation, transportation and other preanalytical factors, the abilities and considerations of laboratory staff, etc.
Humans ; Lead ; Quality Control ; Specimen Handling

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the feasibility of URIT-12 hemoglobin analyzer for fast measurement of hemoglobin concentration.

METHODSHemoglobin concentration was detected in 100 random blood samples using URIT-12 hemoglobin analyzer and Coulter LH-750 hematology analyzer.

RESULTSThe two analyzers showed good correlation of the results (r=0.994) without significant difference between them (P>0.05). The linear range of URIT-12 hemoglobin analyzer was 46-240 g/L, and in the repeated measurements (20 times) of 3 batches of blood samples with low, moderate and high hemoglobin concentrations, the within-batch coefficient of variation of URIT-12 hemoglobin analyzer, from low to high concentrations, were 2.13%, 2.17%, and 2.33%, respectively. In the measurement of 4 batches of high-fat, high-bilirubin, high-globin and high-white-blood-cell blood samples, the interference rate of the former 3 samples were all less than 4% by the two devices, but that of the fourth sample was 10% by URIT-12 hemoglobin analyzer and 7% by Coulter LH-750 analyzer.

CONCLUSIONThe results detected by URIT-12 hemoglobin analyzer have high accuracy and precision and is easy to operate, fast-testing and portable.

Animals ; Rats ; Specimen Handling ; methods ; Spinal Cord

BACKGROUND: The returning time of inpatient specimen analysis is usually slow because phlebotomists deliver all the collected specimens at the end of their work cycle. In addition, manual specimen reception further delays the reporting time and imposes a heavy workload on the technical staff, thus compromising effectiveness. Therefore, we have created an automated specimen reception system to tackle testing delays and enhance the efficiency and quality of specimen collection and handling. METHODS: In May 2015, the pre-analytical processing of inpatient samples was renovated. We automated the specimen reception in parallel with barcode printing and introduced pneumatic tubes to deliver samples for routine chemistry tests. We compared the reporting time of the automated system with that of the manual system and analyzed the distribution pattern of the specimens according to handling time. RESULTS: The median reporting time was advanced by 41 minutes, from 09:33 AM to 08:52 AM for the manual and automated reception, respectively. Moreover, with the reduction in hands-on time, the blood specimens reached the laboratory immediately after phlebotomy, thereby improving the processing efficiency by spreading out the interval during which the specimens arrived in the laboratory. Additionally, the new system allowed the identification of the phlebotomist who collected the specimens and tracking the specimens from collection to test result. CONCLUSIONS: With the introduction of our automatic reception system, the reporting time was considerably reduced. Therefore, the satisfaction of the clinician and the technical staff was improved.
Chemistry* ; Humans ; Inpatients* ; Phlebotomy ; Specimen Handling

BACKGROUND: Bayer Rapidpoint 400 analyzer for point of care testing (POCT) uses fixed quality control (QC) range even when the lot number of a cartridge for quality control changes. To evaluate the fixed QC range recommended by the manufacturer, we analyzed internal QC data of 9 analyzers with Six Sigma metrics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated QC data of 9 analyzers over 5 months from May to September, 2004 for 8 parameters (pH, pCO2, pO2, Na+, K+, iCa++, Cl-, and glucose). One hundred eighty six groups of QC data were analyzed with capability index (C(p)=total allowable error (TEa)/3 standard deviation (SD)) and capability index considering bias (C(pk),=(TEa-bias)/3 SD). Acceptability was evaluated with criteria of 1.33 C(pk), 4 sigma level or quality criteria of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA'88). RESULTS: In 80.7% (150 of 186 groups), both C(p) and C(pk) were at or above 1.33, which indicated that the use of fixed QC range was adequate. In 19.3% (36 of 186 groups), C(pk) was below 1.33, which indicated the inadequacy of fixed QC range. Among them 14.5% (27 of 186 groups) showed C(p) below 1.33, indicating that the errors had a random factor and 4.8% (9 of 186 groups) had C(p) at or above 1.33, indicating that the errors had a systematic factor. CONCLUSIONS: The quality criteria mandated by CLIA '88 was satisfied in about 80% of study groups using fixed QC ranges, but in about 20%, more strict instrument maintenance and specimen handling by operators, and quality improvement of QC materials by manufacturer was required.
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Quality Control* ; Quality Improvement ; Specimen Handling