In the News

After wide consultation, the US Endocrine Society has suggested that all patients should have a laboratory measurement of blood glucose (blood sugar) on admission to hospital. Raised values are common, even in non-diabetics on general wards, and control of blood glucose has been shown to result in fewer complications and a shorter hospital stay.

Biliary atresia is a rare life-threatening malformation of the bile duct that obstructs the passage of bile from the liver to the gut and causes jaundice. An operation to relieve the obstruction is needed to prevent severe liver damage and possible liver transplantation. It is more likely to be successful the earlier the diagnosis is made. In a study published in the December 2011 issue of the journal Pediatrics researchers report that babies with biliary atresia have raised blood concentrations of conjugated or direct bilirubin as early as the second or third day of life. This blood test is commonly performed in most UK laboratories and the authors suggest it might prove a useful screening test.

During a heart attack, proteins called troponins are released from damaged heart muscle. If a series of sensitive troponin blood tests show no increase during the twelve hours after the onset of chest pain, a heart attack can be ruled out. A recent clinical study from Manchester Royal Infirmary has found that an undetectable sensitive troponin level in the first blood sample of the series allows heart attack to be ruled out immediately. However, patients whose blood carries an antibody to troponin can have misleadingly low test results. Recent work from Germany has strongly suggested that reliability can be improved by the addition of a second rapid test for the stress hormone copeptin.