Quick Notes Clinical Pathology
Sensitivity of a Test -
* The frequency of a test that is positive when the patient truly has the disease.
* If the sensitivity is 91% - 91% of animals have positive results and 9% have a false negative
* Increased sensitivity means lower number of false positives
* snOUT - used to rule out disease
* Good for screening tests
Specificity of a Test -
* The frequency of a test that is negative when the patient does not have the disease.
* If the specificity is 95% - 95% have negative test results and 5 % of false positives
* spIN - used to rule in disease
* Good for confirmatory tests
Difference between plasma and serum -
Plasma - has clotting factors
Serum - does not have coagulation proteins
Blood mixing -
The rocker does not adequately mix the blood, must tip tube back and forth 10-15 times
before running tests.
Order Of Filling Tubes -
1 - Blue citrate
2 - Red serum
3 - green heparin
4 - purple EDTA
5 - gray sodium fluoride
Blue Citrate Tube -
Has sodium citrate
Used for coagulation biochemistries
Red Serum Tube -
No anticoagulant
Used for biochemical profiles
Green Heparin Tube -
Has heparin
Used for certain biochemical tests
Purple EDTA Tube -
Has EDTS
Preserves cel volume and is used for hematologic tests, CBC
