BIOCHEMISTRY AND CLINICAL BIOCHEMISTRY
Learning outcomes of the course unit
This course aims to provide the informations and the scientific background to approach correctly the practical aspects in Clinical Biochemistry by students of Techniques of biomedical laboratory.
This knowledge is especially needed to understand the complexity connected to the biological sample and to recognize the possible sources of error and to undertake the suitable remedy; moreover, the knowledge of general principles and the methodological steps by which an analytical method is fitted and carried on it provides the cultural background to comprehend the Diagnostic techniques of Clinical Biochemistry.
Prerequisites
There are no obligatory prerequisites, but these topics of Clinical Biochemistry are an interdisciplinary matter and the student needs the basic knowledge in Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Course contents summary
Part 1. General Clinical Chemistry.
Kind of laboratory test: purposes and usefulness. Biological specimens consideration: instruction for optimal collection, treatment and conservation (avoiding pre-analytical variation). Principles of exclusion for collected biological samples.
Part 2. Analysis of biological samples; analytical techniques and instrumentations.
The main analytical techniques and instrumentations to evaluate the molecules of interest in Clinical Chemistry: electrophoresis, capillary electrophoresis, chemiluminescence. Analytical and post-analytical variability affecting the laboratory data. Clinical laboratory quality assurance; control chart (Levey-Jennings). Kinds of error and their reasons. Standard deviation and variation coefficient. Evaluation of an analytical method: Accuracy and precision; specificity and sensitivity. Receiver operating curve (ROC). Predictive values. Prevalence and incidence. Reference values: concept of normality in biology. Desirable and decisional values.
Part 3. Current waived test.
Point of care testing (POCT): use and application. Criteria for test waiving. Quality control in POCT. Implementation and monitoring of POCT. Specimen and its treatment for POCT. Places of POCT utilization. Auto-monitoring of some biochemical parameters. Kits for diagnostic tests.
Recommended readings
L. Spandrio. Biochimica Clinica. Ed. Sorbona – Milano.
Teaching methods
The final oral examination is about the topics of the course; the student needs to demonstrate to have understood and to be able to manage the essential meanings of every section of the program.
