Clinical Chemistry
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Clinical Chemistry 49: 41-50, 2003; 10.1373/49.1.41
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(Clinical Chemistry. 2003;49:41-50.)
© 2003 American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Inc.

Opinion

Windows to the Ward: Graphically Oriented Report Forms. Presentation of Complex, Interrelated Laboratory Data for Electrophoresis/Immunofixation, Cerebrospinal Fluid, and Urinary Protein Profiles

Axel Regeniter1a, Jürg U. Steiger2, André Scholer1, Peter R. Huber1 and Werner H. Siede3

Departments of
1 Laboratory Medicine, and
2 Nephrology, Kantonsspital Basel, University Hospital, Petersgraben 4, CH 4031 Basel, Switzerland
3 Institut für Labormedizin, Klinikum Lippe Lemgo, Rintelner Strasse 85, D 32756 Lemgo, Germany

aAuthor for correspondence. Fax 41-61-265-4740; e-mail aregeniter{at}uhbs.ch.

Background: Automated laboratory analyzers that mass produce data have been linked to information systems for more than two decades, but little progress has been made in developing more comprehensible report forms. Results are still reported in computer-generated printouts containing hundreds of numbers crowded into columns on each printed page.

Methods: We developed three software applications focusing on the graphic presentation of laboratory results.

Results: The first application summarizes data for a patient with a monoclonal gammopathy. The report provides a cumulative graphic presentation of immunofixation/electrophoresis data without any additional interpretation, focuses on a color-coded electrophoresis scan, and records up to 5 years on a single page. The second application deals with cerebrospinal fluid analysis. The report calculates relevant data and graphs the complex relationship between albumin and immunoglobulin results from paired serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples. Manually added interpretive text assures an output comprehensible to clinicians in all specialties. The third application produces a report summarizing quantitatively measured urinary marker protein profiles. The report form is generated by a flexible, completely user-definable knowledge-based system. It calculates numerous ratios and formulae, supports reflex testing, supplies an automated interpretation, and generates a specific graphic signature pattern of the results (MDI LabLink proteinuria differentiation).

Conclusions: Increased clinical demand for graphically oriented report forms 5 years after their introduction has provided evidence that these reports transfer complex laboratory data and results to the clinician more effectively. The highest (more than threefold) increase in demand has been for reports for urinary marker protein profiles that feature a largely self-explanatory graphic signature pattern.




The following articles in journals at HighWire Press have cited this article:


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 Clin. Chem.Home page
M. Gai, V. Cantaluppi, C. Fenocchio, D. Motta, S. Masini, A. Pacitti, and G. Lanfranco
Presence of Protein Fragments in Urine of Critically Ill Patients with Acute Renal Failure: A Nephrologic Enigma
Clin. Chem., October 1, 2004; 50(10): 1822 - 1824.
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Home page
 Clin. Chem.Home page
M. Maachi, S. Fellahi, A. Regeniter, M.-E. Diop, J. Capeau, J. Rossert, and J.-P. Bastard
Patterns of Proteinuria: Urinary Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Electrophoresis Versus Immunonephelometric Protein Marker Measurement Followed by Interpretation with the Knowledge-Based System MDI-LabLink
Clin. Chem., October 1, 2004; 50(10): 1834 - 1837.
[Full Text] [PDF]


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