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Aviir Inc., a biotechnology company dedicated to the prevention of cardiovascular disease through innovative laboratory tests, will be extending its offered services with comprehensive inherited cardiovascular disease genetic test menu.The newly validated tests cover the major causes of cardiomyopathies, arrhythmia disorders, and other genetically transmitted diseases that affect the heart and vasculature. Each test is available for testing in both individual and familial settings. Two comprehensive ...

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) has released a new evidence-based guideline, "Validating Whole Slide Imaging for Diagnostic Purposes in Pathology."  The guideline is the first of its kind and is now available in the CAP's peer-reviewed journal, Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine.The document serves as a practical guide for pathologists and laboratories seeking to confirm the accuracy and concordance of their own whole slide imaging (WSI) systems for diagnostic work, while ...

A comprehensive genomic analysis of nearly 400 endometrial tumors suggests that certain molecular characteristics - such as the frequency of mutations - could complement current pathology methods and help distinguish between principal types of endometrial tumors, as well as provide insights into potential treatment strategies. In addition, the study, led by investigators in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network, revealed four novel tumor subtypes, while also identifying genomic similarities ...

Decades of declines in LDL cholesterol blood levels, a key marker of death risk from heart disease, abruptly ended in 2008, and may have stalled since, according to a multi-year, national study published in PLOS ONE.The study, by researchers at Quest Diagnostics, examined low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, blood-serum cholesterol test results of nearly 105 million individual adult Americans of both genders in all 50 states and the District of Columbia from 2001-2011. The study is the largest of LDL ...

Take a swab of saliva from your mouth and within minutes your DNA could be ready for analysis and genome sequencing with the help of a new device.University of Washington engineers and NanoFacture, a Bellevue, Wash., company, have created a device that can extract human DNA from fluid samples in a simpler, more efficient and environmentally friendly way than conventional methods.The device will give hospitals and research labs a much easier way to separate DNA from human fluid samples, which will help ...

Breaking research appearing online in Clinical Chemistry, the journal of AACC, demonstrates that a recently developed diagnostic test can detect the new strain of influenza (H7N9) currently causing an outbreak in China.Since the end of March, 31 people have died from H7N9 infection, and the number of confirmed cases has climbed to 129. Evidence suggests that most H7N9 infections have arisen from poultry-to-human transmission, and that passage of the virus between humans is limited. However, ...

DiaSorin Inc. has received FDA clearance for their LIAISON Aldosterone immunoassay.  It is intended for the quantitative determination of Aldosterone in human serum, EDTA plasma and urine samples.Aldosterone is a mineralocorticoid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex. Its function is to increase sodium reabsorption in the kidneys. The test is primarily used for the diagnosis of hypertension, one of the most common diseases in the world and the primary cause of many of the cardiac ischemic and ...

A coalition representing over 120,000 medical and laboratory professionals and institutions that perform the vast majority of clinical molecular pathology testing in the United States released a joint statement Monday regarding new Medicare prices for those tests.The groups include American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA), American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), American ...

Following the acquisition of Aperio, Leica Biosystems announced  two software releases facilitating interoperability throughout the combined Aperio ePathology portfolio.Digital pathology users can now utilize images created on any of the ScanScope, Ariol or SCN400 Capture devices with a full range of Network software and Precision software solutions, for advanced sharing, collaboration and quantitative image analysis. Leica Biosystems now offers a full range of products for each step in the pathology ...

Testing patients with just three risk factors upon hospital admission has potential to identify nearly three out of four asymptomatic carriers of C. difficile, according to a new study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., analyzed stool samples from 320 patients showing no symptoms of C. ...

NovoPath this month marks its 20th year of delivering management and reporting software solutions to anatomic pathology (AP) providers, after experiencing double-digit growth in 2012, a year marked by far-reaching business challenges.  Recognized for its broad-based functionality and customizable features, NovoPath's advanced solutions support AP reporting, image acquisition, electronic sign off, voice dictation, billing, referring physician communications and more.  Each year more than 4 ...

Karolinska Institutet and University Hospital have shown that a simple blood test canpredict breast cancer patients' response to therapy, how long treatment will be effectiveand survival. The results were being presented at the recent IMPAKT scientific conference inBrussels. The analysis measures growth rate and this is the first time ever thatone test has documented this by analysing a blood sample.The study (called TEX) included 287 women with breast cancer who were treated with ...

Karolinska Institutet and University Hospital have shown that a simple blood test canpredict breast cancer patients' response to therapy, how long treatment will be effectiveand survival. The results were being presented at the recent IMPAKT scientific conference inBrussels. The analysis measures growth rate and this is the first time ever thatone test has documented this by analysing a blood sample.The study (called TEX) included 287 women with breast cancer who were treated with ...

Researchers claim to have calculated for the first time, the upper safe limit of vitamin D levels, above which the associated risk for cardiovascular events or death raises significantly, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism(JCEM).There is increasing evidence that vitamin D plays a pivotal role in human physiology. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to cardiovascular events and mortality, but previous ...

PathCentral, a technology-enabled company dedicated to the success of the international pathology community, today announced that the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's department of pathology will participate as a client in the PathCentral Pathology Network, the specialty's most comprehensive online information exchange and digital consultation forum. The PathCentral Pathology Network enables physicians to upload case files using digital images for pathologists to review and render ...