Respiratory Infections An Issue Of Clinics In Laboratory Medicine

Acute respiratory infections are responsible for an estimated 4 million deaths annually worldwide, and are the leading cause of death in children younger than 5 years. Over 1 million people in the United States are hospitalized each year with pneumonia. Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects one third of world’s population. There are more than 1 million tuberculosis-related deaths worldwide each year. Emerging resistance to multiple available antimicrobial agents has hampered the ability to treat tuberculosis and hospital-acquired respiratory infections. The laboratory diagnosis of respiratory infections is an important part of patient management and treatment. In addition to culture isolation of pathogens, advances have been made in a number of non-culture methods. This issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicinee reviews state-of-the-art laboratory diagnosis of respiratory infections, as well as the testing of susceptibility to antibiotics and antiviral agents. Among some of the respiratory infections covered are: Cystic fibrosis infections; Pertussis; Pharyngitis; Fungal infections. Among the diagnostic tests are: Interferon gamma release assays; Molecuar diagnosis of TB; Urine antigen tests and discussion of Antibiotic resistance in nosocomial respiratory infections.

This issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine, guest edited by James E. Kirby, will focus on Advances and Trends in Clinical Microbiology and take a look at the next 20 years. Topics include, but are not limited to, Rapid susceptibility testing methods; Synergy testing; Serology testing re-imagined; Total Laboratory Automation in Clinical Microbiology; MALDI-TOF; Superbugs of the Future, the Antimicrobial Laboratory Resistance Network, Partnerships between Public Health and the clinical microbiology laboratory; Next generation sequencing, from identification to susceptibility prediction; Distributed microbiology testing; Direct from Sample Identification; Biomarkers - predicting viral versus bacterial infection; PK/PD in the era of emerging multidrug-resistance; Training the next generation of clinical microbiologists; and Pictorial illustration of debate, developments, and controversy in clinical microbiology.

Respiratory infections are among the most common causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. These infections present a special challenge to physicians for several reasons, including of the recent disasters caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and bird and swine influenza, the increase in viral and bacterial resistance to currently available anti-microbial drugs, the increased frequency of new viral lung infections in clinical practice, and the worldwide emergence of deadly drug-resistant forms of TB. For these reasons, it is important for infectious disease specialists to have an overview of emerging respiratory infections.

Topics in this clinically focused publication devoted to Cardiac Markers include: Overview of cardiac markers in heart disease; Methodologies for measurement of cardiac markers; Natriuretic peptides in HF and ACS; Tropoinins and high sensitivity troponins; Point-of-care testing for cardiac markers; ST-2 and galectin 3 in patients with heart failure; Cardiac markers following heart surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention; Cholesterol, lipoproteins, high sensitivity CRP and other risk factors for atherosclerosis; Myocarditis and cardiac transplant and rejection; New molecular genetic tests in the diagnosis of heart disease; Biomarkers for cholesterol balance.

This updated issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine, edited by Martin H. Bluth, will focus on Molecular Pathology. Topics include, but are not limited to, The Impact of Molecular Pathology on the Practice of Pathology; Molecular pathology techniques; Clinical Implication of MicroRNAs in Molecular Pathology; Diagnostic Molecular Microbiology; Molecular Pathology in Transfusion Medicine; Molecular Diagnosis of Hematopoietic Neoplasms; Molecular Diagnostics in Colorectal Carcinoma; Molecular Diagnostics in the Neoplasms of Small Intestine and Appendix; Molecular Diagnostics in Esophageal and Gastric Neoplasms; Molecular Diagnostics in the Neoplasms of the Pancreas, Liver, Gall Bladder, and Extrahepatic Biliary Tract; Current Applications of Molecular Genetic Technologies to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Cutaneous Melanocytic Neoplasms; Breast Carcinoma; and Gynecologic Cancers.

This issue focuses on three disease sections: Diabetes, Hematology and Coagulation, and covers diagnostic and management issues during pregnancy of selected topics in each section. The chapters cover new concepts, evolving management and important impacts on the mother and unborn child.

Topics in this clinically focused publication devoted to Anticoagulants are: Antithrombin clinical applications and anti-inflammatory effects; Pharmacology and laboratory testing of oral direct thrombin inhibitor Dabigatran; Pharmacology and laboratory testing of the oral Xa inhibitors; Clincial use of the new oral anticoagulants; Pharmacology and safety of new oral anticoagulants-the challenge of bleeding; Emergency reversal of Warfarin anticoagulation - prothrombin complex concentrate compared with plasma; Prothrombin complex concentrate as reversal agent for new oral anticoagulants - lessons from prelinical models; Bleeding with new oral anticoagulants - clinical presentation and management; Treatment of ICH with new oral anticoagulants - a neurologist's view; Management of anticoagulation agents in trauma patients; and Anticoagulation and pediatric patients.