engleski

The preanalytical phase in the era of high- throughput genetic testing. What the future holds

Laboratory Medicine is undergoing one of the most challenging periods of its more than centenarian existence. Many technological innovations, coupled with a deeper understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms of human diseases, have contributed enormously to expanding the armamentarium of diagnostic tests that the modern clinical laboratories have made available to their stakeholders. The ensuing increased volume and complexity of diagnostic testing are counterbalanced by many emerging threats, which are contributing to make our daily activities inside the laboratory environment still more complicated. These new challenges include an increasing contraction of public funding, which is now a hallmark of many national healthcare systems, the increasing demand for high quality and advanced care, the reorganization of laboratory services within a large network of facilities according to the so- called “hub-and-spoke” paradigm, and which is then contributing to alienate patients from the primary site of diagnostic testing. Hence, a pervasive and holistic approach will be necessary for improving the preanalytical quality of genetic testing. This will entail planning specific risk minimization strategies by developing specific preanalytical recommendations for specimens used for genetic testing, along with the creation of an enlarged set of quality performance indicators, aimed at covering the many and often peculiar preanalytical issues of high-throughput genetic technologies.

preanalytical phase ; genetic testing

nije evidentirano