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Obstetrics and Gynecology Sep 2022To assess concordance and acceptability of a modified menstrual pad compared with a clinician-collected high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) sample. (Observational Study)
Observational Study
OBJECTIVE
To assess concordance and acceptability of a modified menstrual pad compared with a clinician-collected high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) sample.
METHODS
This was a prospective observational study. Women presenting for either cervical cancer screening or with a history of high-risk HPV positivity were eligible. Three samples were requested from participants: 1) clinician-collected cervical specimens; 2) self-collected vaginal swabs; and 3) a modified menstrual pad, which was taken home for use during the next menstruation. All samples were processed using the Cobas HPV test. Menstrual pad dried blood spots were eluted, then similarly processed.
RESULTS
Of 153 women enrolled in the study, 106 provided menstrual pad samples and clinician-collected cervical specimens for high-risk HPV analysis. For samples in which the interval between the clinician-collected specimen and the menstrual pad sample was less than 2 months, the concordance was 94% (95% CI 83-98). For women who tested positive for high-risk HPV who presented for general screening and those with more than cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2, menstrual pad and clinician-collected specimen agreement was 100% (95% CI 32.5-100). Among participants, 22.9% expressed discomfort with the self-collected vaginal swabs and opted out of collection. Overall, 94.0% of participants preferred the menstrual pad over clinician-collected sampling. Twelve patients were found to be positive for HPV on the menstrual pad sample but negative on the clinician-collected specimen.
CONCLUSION
Among women who tested positive for HPV, the menstrual pad showed highly concordant results compared with clinician-collected sampling. This collection approach shows promise for integration into cervical cancer prevention programs.
Topics: Humans; Female; Papillomaviridae; Papillomavirus Infections; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Early Detection of Cancer; Mass Screening; Specimen Handling; Alphapapillomavirus; Vaginal Smears; Sensitivity and Specificity
PubMed: 35926207
DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000004904 -
Clinical Biochemistry Jul 2023Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling is a minimally invasive method for specimen collection with potential multifaceted uses, particularly for serosurveillance of previous...
INTRODUCTION
Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling is a minimally invasive method for specimen collection with potential multifaceted uses, particularly for serosurveillance of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, we assessed DBS as a potential specimen type for assessing IgG and total (including IgG and IgM) antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in vaccinated and naturally infected patients.
METHODS
Six candidate buffers were assessed for eluting blood from DBS cards. The study utilized one hundred and five paired plasma specimens and DBS specimens from prospectively collected SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated individuals, remnants from those with PCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections, or remnants from those without history of infection or vaccination. All specimens were tested with the Siemens SARS-CoV-2 total assay (COV2T) or IgG assay (sCOVG).
RESULTS
The lowest backgrounds were observed with water and PBS, and water was used for elution. Relative to plasma samples, DBS samples had a positive percent agreement (PPA) of 94.4% (95% CI: 94.9-100%) for COV2T and 79.2 (68.4-87.0) for sCOVG using the manufacturer's cutoff. The NPA was 100 % (87.1-100.0 and 85.13-100) for both assays. Dilution studies revealed 100% (95% CI: 90.8-100%) qualitative agreement between specimen types on the COV2T assay and 98.0% (88.0-99.9%) with the sCOVG using study defined cutoffs.
CONCLUSION
DBS specimens demonstrated high PPA and NPA relative to plasma for SARS-CoV-2 serological testing. Our data support feasibility of DBS sampling for SARS-CoV-2 serological testing.
Topics: Humans; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 Testing; Specimen Handling; Antibodies, Viral; Immunoglobulin M; Immunoglobulin G; Dried Blood Spot Testing
PubMed: 34990593
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2021.12.012 -
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry Jan 2023Large-scale lipidomic analyses have been limited by the cost and accessibility of traditional venipuncture sampling. Microsampling techniques offer a less-invasive and...
Large-scale lipidomic analyses have been limited by the cost and accessibility of traditional venipuncture sampling. Microsampling techniques offer a less-invasive and more accessible alternative. From a single drop of blood, plasma separation cards (PSC) deliver two volumetric dried plasma samples which are studied here for profiling endogenous blood lipids. Six lots of EDTA-treated human whole blood were used to compare PSC, dried blood spot analyses (DBS), and classic wet plasma extractions. Six replicate extractions were performed for each lot. Nontargeted lipidomics was performed by liquid chromatography-high resolution tandem mass spectrometry. Lipids were annotated by accurate mass/retention time matching and MS/MS spectral library matching using peak intensities for quantitation. Four hundred ninety-eight compounds covering 24 lipid subclasses were annotated. Inter-lot repeatability was evaluated by the percent relative standard deviation (%RSD) for each lot, giving median %RSD values across the lots at 14.6% for PSC, 9.3% for DBS, and 8.6% for wet plasma. Strong correlations of lipid peak intensities between wet plasma and PSCs were observed, but less for DBS. Lipid recovery and stability were comparable between the PSC and DBS samples, with roughly 60% of annotated lipids stable at room temperature after 28 days. Overall, PSCs provide a better alternative for quantitative blood lipidomic analyses compared to dried blood spots. However, problems with lipid stability for samples handled and shipped at room temperature are currently unavoidable outside of a clinical setting. Data transferability and comparability to standard plasma is lipid and lipid class dependent.
Topics: Humans; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Lipidomics; Chromatography, Liquid; Specimen Handling; Lipids; Dried Blood Spot Testing
PubMed: 36316462
DOI: 10.1007/s00216-022-04399-4 -
Toxicon : Official Journal of the... Jul 2017Saxitoxin (STX) is a potent marine toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) which can result in significant morbidity and mortality in humans. Low lethal...
Saxitoxin (STX) is a potent marine toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) which can result in significant morbidity and mortality in humans. Low lethal doses, rapid onset of PSP symptoms, and brief STX half-life in vivo require sensitive and rapid diagnostic techniques to monitor human exposures. Our laboratory has validated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for quantitative detection of STX from 0.020 to 0.80 ng/mL in human whole blood and from 0.06 to 2.0 ng/mL in dried human blood which is simple, sensitive, rapid, and cost-effective. To our knowledge, this is the first validated method for the quantitation of saxitoxin in whole blood. Microsampling devices were used in sample collection which allows for standardized collection of blood, stable storage, and cost-efficient shipping. Quality control precision and accuracy were evaluated over the course of validation and were within 20% of theoretical concentrations. No detectable background concentrations of STX were found among fifty whole blood and dried blood convenience samples. Additionally, ten spiked individual whole blood and dried blood samples were tested for accuracy and precision and were within 20% of theoretical concentrations. Gonyautoxins 2&3 (GTX2&3) cross-reacted with this ELISA by 21%, but all other structurally related PSP toxins tested cross-reacted less than two percent. While clinical diagnosis or treatment of PSP would be unaffected by GTX2&3 cross-reactivity by ELISA, to accurately quantify individual PSP toxins, these results should be coupled with high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry measurements.
Topics: Blood Specimen Collection; Cross Reactions; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Humans; Reproducibility of Results; Saxitoxin; Shellfish Poisoning
PubMed: 28495477
DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2017.05.009 -
Indian Journal of Pathology &... 2022Cervical Papanicolaou (PAP) smear is the simplest, minimal invasive, and excellent screening method to reduce the female morbidity and mortality due to cervical... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
BACKGROUND
Cervical Papanicolaou (PAP) smear is the simplest, minimal invasive, and excellent screening method to reduce the female morbidity and mortality due to cervical carcinoma. Immediate alcohol fixation of the cervical smears is required to preserve nuclear details, delay in alcohol fixation leads to air drying artifacts. Rehydrating of the air-dried cervical pap smear with normal saline can help to overcome these artifacts and also have its own advantages.
AIMS
This study was design to evaluate the effects, merits and pitfalls of normal saline Rehydrated Air-Dried Cervical PAP Smears (RADPS) compared with the Conventional Papanicolaou Smear (C-PAPS).
SETTINGS AND DESIGN
Comparative study.
METHODS AND MATERIAL
Prospectively paired cervical smears of 100 women, who presented to the outpatient department of gynecology of our institute, were prepared. Alcohol fixed smears were labelled as conventional Papanicolaou smear (C-PAPS) and air-dried smears labelled as rehydrated air-dried PAP smears (RADPS). Eight cytomorphological parameters were considered for comparison and analyzed.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED
Chisquare (χ)/Fisher exact test.
RESULTS
Clear background with red blood cells (RBC) lysis was noted in 93% of RADPS and 54% of C-PAPS. Cytolysis was observed more in C-PAPS (18%) than in RADPS (08%). Air-drying artifacts observed in 30% of C-PAPS and 08% of RADPS. Cytoplasmic staining (92% of RADPS and 85% of C-PAPS) was superior in RADPS. Cell border, nuclear chromatin, and border were also better appreciated on RADPS as compared to C-PAPS. Statistically significant difference was observed with 3 parameters, i.e., air-drying artifacts, RBC background, and distinct cell borders.
CONCLUSION
Rehydration of air-dried smears can be adopted in regular practice, as an alternative or coupled with conventional wet fixation method to overcome the commonly faced problems of air-drying artifacts, especially in rural screening programs.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Desiccation; Ethanol; Female; Fluid Therapy; Humans; Middle Aged; Papanicolaou Test; Prospective Studies; Saline Solution; Specimen Handling; Staining and Labeling; Tissue Fixation; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Vaginal Smears; Young Adult
PubMed: 35074972
DOI: 10.4103/IJPM.IJPM_1214_20 -
Journal of Pharmaceutical and... Apr 2023Lithium is a cornerstone in the treatment of bipolar disorder and is considered one of the most effective treatments in psychiatry at large. Lithium treatment requires...
BACKGROUND
Lithium is a cornerstone in the treatment of bipolar disorder and is considered one of the most effective treatments in psychiatry at large. Lithium treatment requires individual dosing with frequent serum concentration measurements due to the narrow therapeutic window and risk of toxicity. There is need for patient-centric methods for lithium monitoring and the use of dried blood spots has recently been proposed for determination of lithium concentration. The purpose of the current study was to assess feasibility of this method by introducing a volumetric technique developed for home-sampling.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Laboratory: Capillary blood was sampled by finger-prick using a volumetric device that collects 10 µL volumes as a dried blood spot. Lithium was measured in the dried blood spots using a validated atomic absorption spectroscopy method.
CLINICAL
Thirty-nine lithium-treated patients were recruited, and dried blood spots and venous blood samples were collected. Routine serum analysis was performed for comparison.
RESULTS
The range of serum lithium concentrations was 0.41-1.22 mmol/L, and the dried blood spot/serum ratio was 0.78. A strong linear correlation between the two specimens was shown with Pearson's R = 0.95 (r = 0.90). Adding hematocrit as a variable only minimally improved prediction.
CONCLUSION
Volumetric dried blood spots is a promising technique for measurement of lithium concentrations. This will enable home-sampling and could potentially save resources, improve compliance, and make treatment safer. This may facilitate the use of lithium treatment in regions where monitoring via venous blood sampling remains difficult. However, the usability of dried blood spots for monitoring lithium treatment longitudinally remains to be examined.
Topics: Humans; Lithium; Blood Specimen Collection; Lithium Compounds; Dried Blood Spot Testing
PubMed: 36724686
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2023.115269 -
Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory... Jan 2024The collection of capillary blood microsamples via finger-prick has several advantages over traditional blood collection. It is considered convenient and more... (Review)
Review
The collection of capillary blood microsamples via finger-prick has several advantages over traditional blood collection. It is considered convenient and more patient-centric, enabling collection of the sample by the patient at her/his home with subsequent analysis in the lab following postal shipment. Determination of the diabetes biomarker HbA in self-collected microsamples to remotely monitor diabetes patients seems to be a very promising option which could eventually lead to better treatment adaptations and disease control. This is especially convenient/relevant for patients living in areas where venipuncture is impractical, or to support virtual consultations using telemedicine. Over the years, a substantial numbers of reports on HbA and microsampling have been published. However, the heterogeneity of the applied study designs and data evaluation is remarkable. This review provides a general and critical overview of these papers, along with specific points of attention that should be dealt with when aiming at implementing microsampling for reliable HbA determination. We focus on the used (dried) blood microsampling techniques, collection conditions, stability of the microsamples, sample extraction, analytical methods, method validation, correlation studies with conventional venous blood samples and patient satisfaction. Lastly, the possibility of using liquid instead of dried blood microsamples is discussed. Liquid blood microsampling is expected to have similar advantages as dried blood microsampling and several studies suggest it to be a suitable approach to collect samples remotely for subsequent HbA analysis in the lab.
Topics: Humans; Female; Blood Specimen Collection; Dried Blood Spot Testing; Phlebotomy; Diabetes Mellitus
PubMed: 37419657
DOI: 10.1515/cclm-2023-0228 -
Newborn dried bloodspot screening: mapping the clinical and public health components and activities.Genetics in Medicine : Official Journal... Jun 2009To define components and activities of the entire Newborn Dried Bloodspot Screening process, highlighting long-term follow-up-both clinical and public health-as a basis...
PURPOSE
To define components and activities of the entire Newborn Dried Bloodspot Screening process, highlighting long-term follow-up-both clinical and public health-as a basis for defining requirements for information systems to support the process.
METHODS
Convene a workgroup of experts involved in various aspects of Newborn Dried Bloodspot Screening and conduct an analysis of the components and activities involved, applying Business Process Analysis, part of a collaborative requirements definition process conceived by the Public Health Informatics Institute.
RESULTS
The Newborn Dried Bloodspot Screening workgroup identified four primary business processes: screening, confirmatory/diagnostic testing, transition to long-term follow-up, and intervention management (long-term follow-up). Long-term follow-up includes care coordination/ongoing treatment, continuous quality improvement, knowledge generation, and knowledge management and dissemination. In addition, the Newborn Dried Bloodspot Screening workgroup identified public health care coordination as a new and important role to assure successful long-term follow-up. This role is defined in some detail.
CONCLUSION
Successful newborn screening systems rely on effective partnerships to ensure that there is appropriate screening, diagnosis, and follow-up. Coordinating care across multiple settings and service providers, ensuring continuity of care over time, and generating new knowledge about heritable disorders requires information systems that can fully support the process. Developing such information systems requires a clear understanding of the Newborn Dried Bloodspot Screening process and documentation of the roles and responsibilities for all involved. Business process analysis can be applied to Newborn Dried Bloodspot Screening and other child health programs to help achieve that outcome.
Topics: Blood Specimen Collection; Child Health Services; Follow-Up Studies; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Neonatal Screening; Organizational Objectives
PubMed: 19369886
DOI: 10.1097/GIM.0b013e31819f1b33 -
The American Journal of Tropical... Jan 2022The dried-tube specimen (DTS) procedure was used to develop the COVID-19 serology control panel (CSCP). The DTS offers the benefit of shipping materials without a cold...
The dried-tube specimen (DTS) procedure was used to develop the COVID-19 serology control panel (CSCP). The DTS offers the benefit of shipping materials without a cold chain, allowing for greater access without deterioration of material integrity. Samples in the panel were sourced from COVID-19 convalescent persons from March to May 2020. The immunoglobulin subtypes (total Ig, IgM, and IgG) and their respective reactivity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 nucleocapsid, spike, and receptor-binding domain antigens of the samples were delineated and compared with the WHO International Standard to elucidate the exact binding antibody units of each CSCP sample and ensure the CSCP provides adequate reactivity for different types of serological test platforms. We distribute the CSCP as a kit with five coded tubes to laboratories around the world to be used to compare test kits for external quality assurance, for harmonizing laboratory testing, and for use as training materials for laboratory workers.
Topics: Antibodies, Viral; COVID-19; COVID-19 Serological Testing; Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins; Humans; Immunoglobulin G; Immunoglobulin M; SARS-CoV-2; Specimen Handling; Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus; World Health Organization
PubMed: 34996045
DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-1036 -
Romanian Journal of Morphology and... 2021The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy of Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) antibacterial solution in penetrating the demineralized areas of enamel.
OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy of Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) antibacterial solution in penetrating the demineralized areas of enamel.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
It was considered a group of four extracted teeth (with no color fading, fissures, decay, or demineralization). Each tooth was sectioned in two equal parts, in mesio-distal direction, using a dental handpiece and a special rounded, flat bur. Each specimen was demineralized, for one minute, with 45% orthophosphoric acid, on occlusal and proximal zones. The specimens were then washed and dried with water-air dental syringe. All the probes were inspected with an optical microscope and enamel thickness was digitally measured. Advantage Arrest (Elevate Oral Care, USA), which contains SDF, was applied on the previous demineralized zones. The penetration of the substance was visually inspected with the optical microscope and electronically measured.
RESULTS
It was observed an improvement in remineralizing the white spots on enamel surfaces, the optical microscope being able to detect both demineralization and the penetration of SDF through enamel.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on our in vitro study, SDF (Advantage Arrest) was capable to induce/increase enamel remineralization, through SDF penetration.
Topics: Dental Caries; Fluorides, Topical; Humans; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; Silver Compounds
PubMed: 35024742
DOI: 10.47162/RJME.62.2.20