UAB Synopsis, Vol. 24, No. 20, May 30, 2005

Medical laboratory professionals work around the clock

Imagine practicing medicine without the clinical laboratory. After a patient's history and physical examination, laboratory results help seal the diagnosis. These professionals care for patients in more ways than one can ever realize.

From April 24 to 30, University Hospital celebrated National Medical Laboratory Week. "Here, we recognize the essential work that hundreds of people perform day and night to ensure that patients receive the best possible care," UAB Associate Professor of Pathology Marisa B. Marques, MD, says. The hospital lab performs 4.5 million tests a year.

"The services that UAB clinical labs perform are vital to patient care and integral to the care delivery process," Michael Waldrum, MD, hospital chief operating officer, adds. "UAB has a world-class lab. The hard work, professionalism, and dedication of the laboratory staff are outstanding."

Here are some examples of what goes on 24/7 at UH laboratories:

1 am: medical technologist (MT) in the chemistry lab runs STAT cardiac enzymes for a patient with chest pain.

2 am: MT in hematology performs a differential cell count on cerebral spinal fluid to evaluate a patient for meningitis.

3 am: medical laboratory technician in microbiology streaks a culture plate with a sample from a patient with suspected blastomycosis.

4 am: MT in coagulation checks the result of a prothrombin time (PT) for a patient on warfarin who arrived in the Emergency Department (ED) with an intracranial bleed.

5 am: MT in parasitology reviews a blood smear of another ED patient with a history of working out of the country and suspected malarial infection.

6 am: MT in the CICU laboratory performs STAT PT and partial thromboplastin time in a patient in recovery with postoperative bleeding.

7 am: MTs from the Office of Bedside Testing review arterial blood gas results processed on an I-Stat in the CVOR before transmitting them to PIN.

8 am: pathology assistants prepare for a clinicopathologic correlation conference in the autopsy suite.

9 am: medical laboratory professional in the Cytogenetics Department studies chromosomes in amniotic fluid collected from a high-risk pregnant patient.

10 am: apheresis specialist performs photopheresis to treat a patient with graft-versus-host disease status post-stem cell transplant.

11 am: MT reviews bone marrow aspirates to identify leukemic cells in a patient who presented with profound anemia and excessive bleeding.

Noon: cytotechnologists screen Pap smears for cells suspicious for cervical cancer.

1 pm: MT in toxicology performs a valproic acid drug level on a patient with seizures.

2 pm: MT in the immunocytopenia laboratory reports that a patient's ELISA test proves negative for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

3 pm: in the flow cytometry lab, a MT performs a comprehensive rapid analysis of immunomarkers in the blood of an advanced lymphoma patient.

4 pm: in the immunohistochemistry laboratory, technologists stain a breast cancer specimen to help determine the patient's prognosis.

5 pm: in The Kirklin Clinic® laboratory, several MTs rapidly process blood samples from specialty clinics.

6 pm: histotechnologists prepare and stain hundreds of slides from patients who had biopsies to detect the presence of cancer.

7 pm: MT in molecular diagnostics pipettes samples from an immunocompromised patient as part of PCR testing for Epstein Barr and Parvovirus.

8 pm: MT in the histocompatibility laboratory types a donor sample prior to heart transplantation.

9 pm: medical laboratory professionals in the outreach laboratory and specimen receiving unit prepare laboratory draws from multiple units in the hospital and outside clinics.

10 pm: in the ED lab, a MT focuses on a trauma patient's blood smear to ensure the correct platelet count is reported.

11 pm: MT in immunology uses immunofluorescence to detect antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies in the serum of a patient with vasculitis.

Midnight: Blood Bank technologists perform emergency type and crossmatching for trauma patients, while others assess inventory to ensure the hospital can provide blood products, if needed, for tomorrow's 70 surgeries.

Marisa Marques, MD, and Department of Pathology Residents