9
votes
Accepted
Can a RT-PCR test claim 100% sensitivity and specificity?
A diagnostic test should never claim 100% sensitivity or specificity.
So we are all on the same page, let's review what sensitivity and specificity actually mean. According to the US Food and Drug ...
- 2,901
9
votes
TPO (Thyroid Peroxidase) Antibodies - reference range change
Reference ranges vary by labs. In some assays, 35 IU/mL is still considered the upper limit of normal. The reason for the dramatic difference in reference ranges is the detection limit of the assay ...
- 4,355
7
votes
Accepted
Are medical units pertaining to blood-tests, etc. standard/universal? Or vary from country to country?
While the measured quantities are the same across border, both names and units can vary.
The main difference is often the unit used for the concentration of each analyte : either mass per volume or ...
- 241
7
votes
Accepted
Is the abbreviation"r/o" on a test report used in the declarative or imperative sense?
A full radiology report typically contains several sections, similar to a progress note. The "HISTORY" section discusses the medical history and possibly indications for the imaging. Here, r/o means ...
- 3,178
6
votes
Do medical laboratories determine accuracies for their blood tests?
NOTE: I cannot give you any references in english, since the documentation I have to backup these claims is in Portuguese.
Do medical laboratories determine accuracies for their blood tests that ...
- 211
4
votes
Which blood test results would most indicate further testing for cancer?
Short answer? Most likely none.
Better answer? What you are asking is what we health professionals call "Screening tests", which are by definition highly sensitive but relatively non-specific routine ...
4
votes
Accepted
Are metamyelocytes typically present on blood tests?
Cells of the blood are produced in the bone marrow by multiple steps of differentiation, yielding intermediate precursor cells like metamyelocytes.
Their presence in peripheral blood is abnormal. ...
- 241
3
votes
Accepted
Meaning/Abbreviation of IAAD IA & IAADIADOO
These look like they are from CPT codes ("Current Procedural Terminology"; these are billing codes). They probably come with a numeric descriptor; you're looking for a "long descriptor&...
- 12.9k
3
votes
Accepted
How is the eye score interpreted?
The information you provided
Right lens Sph -0,50 Cyl -0,50 axis 10
Left Lens Sph -0,50 Cyl -0,50 axis 170
Type CR39 SN ARC
is a little bit clearer than you can sometimes see.
When you look ...
- 6,103
3
votes
Accepted
Positive ANA test suggestive of Lupus/SLE, but is 1:160 still ambiguous?
Your doctor may use the term "possible lupus" if you meet part, but not all of the diagnostic criteria for lupus [1]. I'm assuming in the remainder of this post that you do not meet criteria for "...
- 291
3
votes
Accepted
Getting red spot after 3 days of Tb Skin test
First, tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium, not by a virus.
There are a number of different skin tests used for tuberculosis. The common ones are the Mantoux test, the tine test, and the no-longer-...
- 2,002
2
votes
Accepted
Meaning of "lower limit of normal + 20% over basal value" in a description of a blood lactate analysis (after glucose load)
I received an answer from Rudolf Korinthenberg (University of Freiburg), one of the authors:
The normal value for serum lactate is 0.5 – 2.2 mmol/l. We have measured this repeatedly and found all the ...
2
votes
is 1.319 IU/ML Helicobacter Pylori IGG normal?
Those test results indicate a positive result for traces of Helicobacter pylori in the sample given.
No-one on here will give you any more medical advice. Go see your doctor with those results.
- 1,084
2
votes
Is it possible to not have BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes?
BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the names of genes that every human has1, located on chromosome 17. These genes code for proteins that suppress tumors.
However, in some humans these genes carry mutations that ...
- 7,001
2
votes
Accepted
How long after COVID-like symptoms start can one still find out if what they had was COVID?
Antibody tests can identify prior infection for at least several months after acute infection, but more than that is unknown.
Vaccination produces antibodies against the S protein; testing for ...
- 3,178
1
vote
Accepted
What's the point of COVID-19 testing (for an individual)?
Because you have to remember that coronavirus is just something added to all the different diseases that existed 6 months ago.
There are tons of bacteria, virus, fungi whose infection could resemble ...
- 126
1
vote
What is the expected false positives/negatives for COVID-19 tests?
See long answer for How accurate are coronavirus tests?
With the "worst-case numbers" from there which I take from the minimum performance requirements the FDA currently uses with an emergency ...
1
vote
Accepted
How does a typical electromyography result report look like?
You can find a sample format for NCS/EMG here
The report template below
is based on the AANEM’s educational paper Reporting the
Results of Needle EMG and Nerve Conduction Studies. A report
...
- 13.2k
1
vote
Accepted
Possible reason/s for increases in neutrophil, platelet, and WBC levels at the same time?
The increased WBC, platelet, and Neutroplil count suggests that your body may be trying to fight off an infection. When the body is under attack, it increases it's white blood cell production to ...
- 311
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