BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The association between combined oral contraceptives (OC) use and increased risk of stroke has been reported. While progestogen-only contraceptives (POC) are commonly used worldwide, their impact on cardiovascular disease remains unclear. METHODS A meta-analysis based on EMBASE and MEDLINE referenced literature corresponding to OCs marketed since 1960 was carried out. E...

Far too many laboratories consider proficiency testing just a necessary evil, little more than periodic pass–fail exercises we perform solely to meet regulatory requirements. In addition, too many of us belittle point-ofcare (POC) testing as a passing fad, a technology so inferior to what we use in our own laboratories that it hardly warrants our attention. Clearly, a report that combines these...

Point-of-care HbA1c measurements (POC-A1Cs) have been adopted by many diabetes clinics to improve the quality of care provided to their patients (1). Herein, we show that reliability of this approach might be questioned. POC-A1Cs routinely used in the ambulatory section of our diabetes clinic was evaluated on 100 diabetic patients (type 1, n 5 58; type 2, n 5 42) attending the clinic from 1 Oct...

BACKGROUND Preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) provides an opportunity to eliminate a potential implantation failure due to aneuploidy in infertile couples. Some studies clearly show that twins following single embryo transfer (SET) can be the result of a concurrent natural conception and an incidence as high as 1 in 5 twins has been reported. In our case PGS was performed on trophectoderm ...

BACKGROUND Accurate diagnostic techniques for schistosomiasis are essential for prevalence determination and identification of positive patients. A point-of-care test for detecting schistosome circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA) has been evaluated for its accuracy in different endemic regions. This reagent strip/dipstick based assay has showed high sensitivity for individuals with high or mo...

BACKGROUND Fecal biomarker tests that differentiate between organic bowel disease (OBD) and non-OBD in primary care patients with persistent lower-abdomen complaints could reduce the number of unnecessary referrals for endoscopy. We quantified the accuracy of fecal calprotectin and immunochemical occult blood (iFOBT) point-of-care (POC) tests and a calprotectin ELISA in primary care patients wi...

OBJECTIVES To identify opportunities to perform point-of-care (POC) testing and/or screening for infectious diseases in community pharmacies, provide an overview of such tests and how they are used in current practice, discuss how the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) affect pharmacists performing POC testing, and identify and discuss barriers and provide recommendations...

BACKGROUND Haemostatic impairment can have a crucial impact on the outcome of emergency patients, especially in cases of concomitant antithrombotic drug treatment. In this prospective observational study we used a point of care (POC) coagulometer in a prehospital physician-based emergency medical system in order to test its validity and potential value in the treatment of emergency patients. ...

There is a growing need for low-cost, rapid and reliable diagnostic results in veterinary medicine. Point-of-care (POC) tests have tremendous advantages over existing laboratory-based tests, due to their intrinsic low-cost and rapidity. A considerable number of POC tests are presently available, mostly in dipstick or lateral flow formats, allowing cost-effective and decentralised diagnosis of a...

BACKGROUND In South Africa, TB household contact tracing provides an opportunity for increased TB and HIV case finding. We aimed to determine the effect of two new potential interventions for TB contact tracing programmes: Point of Care CD4 (PoC CD4) on HIV linkage to care and household Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) provision on uptake and retention of IPT. METHODS A pragmatic, three-arm...