Polymerase chain reaction clinical laboratory

Laboratory confirmation is vital to effective treatment of HSV, especially in individuals in whom a clinical diagnosis cannot be obtained. There are several methods by which a definitive diagnosis may be acquired, and these include virologic typing, serologic diagnosis, rapid point-of-care antigen detection, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunoblot, and DNA polymerase chain reaction.27... 

CDC Case Definition An illness with acute onset of fever >101°F followed by a rash characterized by firm, deep seated vesicles or pustules in the same stage of development without other apparent cause. Clinically consistent cases are those presentations of smallpox that do not meet this classical clinical case definition (1) hemorrhagic type, (2) flat type, and (3) variola sine eruptione. Laboratory criteria for diagnosis is (1) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) identification of variola DNA in a clinical specimen, or (2) isolation of smallpox (variola) virus from a clinical specimen (Level D laboratory only confirmed by variola PCR). 

The task of integrating laboratory automation begins with the laboratory workstation. In general, a clinical laboratory workstation is usually devoted to a defined task (e.g., performing chemistry profiles, complete blood counts, hormone testing, polymerase chain reaction testing, and urinalysis) and contains appropriate laboratory instrumenta-... 

Berfstrome Jones AC, Doon A. Evaluation of a single-tube multiplex polymerase chain reaction screen for detection of common alpha thalassemia genotypes in a clinical laboratory Am J Clin Path 2002 118 18-24. 

In the absence of an unambiguous history of ricin exposure, the preferred diagnostic method is specific immunoassay of ricin in serum, respiratory secretions, or other clinical samples associated with poisoning. Most of the methods described for ricin detection are experimental or are under development. The CDC and the Federal Laboratory Response Network have the capability to detect ricin in environmental specimens using validated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and time-resolved immunofluorescence assays, with cell-based bioassays to confirm ricin activity. The U.S. Department of Defense has produced experimental field immunoassays, but commercial distribution of field test kits currently is limited. 

In the 6 years that have elapsed since the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was published it has had a major impact on medical research (E6, M8, M9, SI). Previous reviews (E3, Gl, P2, W7, W9) have focused on its clinical applications in diagnosing viral and genetic diseases, and several books (E4, E5, II) provide detailed protocols appropriate for the research laboratory. 

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is an in vitro DNA replication and amplification technique that revolutionized nucleic acid analysis [36]. It enables small amount of nucleic acid molecules to be exponentially amplified (i.e., to generate enough material for their analysis and sequencing). PCR is a commonly used technique in biomedical, molecular biology, and clinical diagnostics laboratories... 

---