Standards and Practice Guidelines for Venous Blood Collection: Consensus Recommendations from the Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine.

High-quality specimens are essential for accurate laboratory results. Preanalytical errors due to issues, such as hemolysis, microclotting, and insufficient specimen volume, account for 60%-70% of laboratory errors and frequently result from improper blood collection techniques or negligence during the collection process. Therefore, standardized blood collection guidelines and continuous education are required.

The Profile of CD71+ Erythroid Cells in Korean Children: A Pilot Study.

CD71+ erythroid cells (CECs) play a complex immunoregulatory role. Flow cytometry was used to assess CECs in 84 individuals, from preterm infants to adults, divided into 5 age groups, 12 from infants under 6 months, 16 from young children (6 months-5 years), 24 from children (6-10 years), 22 from adolescents (11-19 years), and 10 from adults (≥20 years). CECs are universally present at very low frequencies, except in individuals younger than 6 months ( < 0.

The presence of clonal isotype switch after autologous stem cell transplantation as a prognostic biomarker for long-term survival in patients with multiple myeloma.

Clonal isotype switch (CIS) in multiple myeloma (MM) refers to the emergence of new immunoglobulin bands distinct from those present at diagnosis. CIS often appears after high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), reflecting post-transplant immune recovery. However, its prognostic significance remains unclear.

Laboratory characteristics of IgG4-related disease: A retrospective study from a single tertiary medical center.

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is an immune-mediated fibroinflammatory condition with unique histopathological features that can affect most organs, making diagnosis challenging. This study characterized detailed laboratory characteristics of IgG4-RD. Baseline clinical and laboratory features of 33 patients with IgG4-RD were reviewed, including serum IgG4 concentrations, serum free light chains (sFLCs), IgGĸ- and IgGλ-heavy/light chains (HLCs), capillary serum protein electrophoresis (SPE), and immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) of IgG4 subclass.

Assessment of M-protein quantification using capillary electrophoresis and immunosubtraction-based integration in clinical samples with low M-protein concentrations.

Objectives: Quantification of monoclonal protein (M-protein) by serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) is indispensable for diagnosing and monitoring monoclonal gammopathies. However, quantification of small and beta migrating M-proteins is challenging because of overlapping non-immunoglobulin and/or polyclonal immunoglobulin protein fractions. We compared a new integration method based on immunosubtraction (IS-CE) using capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) against the routine method, which includes a combination of perpendicular drop (0.

Comparison of ACCEL ELISA COVID-19 with Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 for Screening of COVID-19.

Objective: Although real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) is the gold standard for diagnosing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), simpler and faster antibody detection tests can be complementary for diagnosis of COVID-19. To manage the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for serologic testing has increased. In this report, the newly developed antibody detection assays ACCEL ELISA COVID-19 (ACCEL) and Elecsys anti-SARS-CoV-2 (Elecsys) were evaluated.

Evaluation of the BioFire Gastrointestinal Panel to Detect Diarrheal Pathogens in Pediatric Patients.

Infectious diarrhea is a global pediatric health concern; therefore, rapid and accurate detection of enteropathogens is vital. We evaluated the BioFire FilmArray Gastrointestinal (GI) Panel with that of comparator laboratory tests. Stool samples of pediatric patients with diarrhea were prospectively collected and tested.

Quality Improvements in Management of Children with Acute Diarrhea Using a Multiplex-PCR-Based Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel.

Conventional methods for etiologic diagnoses of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) are time consuming and have low positive yield leading to limited clinical value. This study aimed to investigate quality improvements in patient management, antibiotic stewardship, and in-hospital infection transmission prevention using BioFire FilmArray Gastrointestinal Panel (GI Panel) in children with acute diarrhea. This was a prospective study recruiting children < 19 years old with new onset diarrhea during the study period, and a matched historical cohort study of children diagnosed with AGE during the 4 years prior.

Body fluid matrix effect evaluation on the Hitachi Labospect 008 system.

Background: Non-standard body fluids (NSBFs) can provide essential clinical information otherwise unobtainable with conventional biological specimens. However, as most commercial chemistry reagents are only validated for serum, plasma, and urine by manufacturers, individual laboratories have to validate testing with NSBF to comply with regulatory standards. However, the heightened level of oversight and uncertainty of validation requirements to comply with regulatory standards pose a significant challenge for NSBF testing in clinical laboratories.

Non-inferior long-term outcomes of adults with Philadelphia chromosome-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Philadelphia chromosome-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph-like ALL) is associated with inferior outcomes in the chemotherapy setting. We hypothesized that allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT)-based post-remission therapy would improve outcomes of this entity. We examined the frequency and long-term outcomes of adults with Ph-like ALL, particularly focusing on allo-HCT outcomes for Ph-like ALL versus non-Ph-like ALL.

Performance evaluation of automated BD Phoenix NMIC-500 panel for carbapenemase detection in carbapenem-resistant and carbapenem-susceptible Enterobacterales.

Rapid detection of carbapenemases and accurate reporting of carbapenem MICs is critical for appropriate treatment and infection control. We evaluated the BD Phoenix NMIC-500 panel for detection and classification of carbapenemases and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) for carbapenems. A total of 235 isolates were tested; 47 carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales, 52 non-carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (non-CP-CRE), 136 carbapenem-susceptible Enterobacterales (CSE).

High incidence of RAS pathway mutations among sentinel genetic lesions of Korean pediatric BCR-ABL1-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Introduction: Recent advances in genetic analysis have led to the discovery of novel genetic subtypes of precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) with prognostic relevance. In this study, we studied a cohort of pediatric B-ALL patients to retrospectively determine the incidence of patients harboring novel genetic subtypes, as well as their outcome.

Methods: B-ALL patients (N = 190) diagnosed in a single Korean hospital were included in the study.

Performance Evaluation of the Beckman Coulter DxN VERIS Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Assay in Comparison With the Abbott RealTime HBV Assay.

The detection and quantification of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA plays an important role in diagnosing and monitoring HBV infection as well as in assessing the therapeutic response. We compared the analytical performance of a random access, fully automated HBV assay-DxN VERIS Molecular Diagnostics System (Beckman Coulter, Brea, CA, USA)-with that of Abbott RealTime HBV assay (Abbott Laboratories, Des Plaines, IL, USA). The between-day precision of the VERIS assay ranged from 0.

Comparison of Enterococcus faecium Bacteremic Isolates from Hematologic and Non-hematologic Patients: Differences in Antimicrobial Resistance and Molecular Characteristics.

Background: Enterococcus faecium, especially vancomycin-resistant E. faecium (VREfm), is a major concern for patients with hematologic diseases. Exposure to antibiotics including fluoroquinolone, which is used as a routine prophylaxis for patients with hematologic (MH) diseases, has been reported to be a risk factor for infection with vancomycin-resistant eneterocci.