Abstracts Received

Below is the final list of Abstracts received for Focus 2003. If your abstract does not appear on this page and you think it should, it is your responsibility to contact the Focus Office.

Appearance on this list does not guarantee acceptance; authors will be notified whether their abstracts have been accepted by 7th March 2003.

Updated 27.1.03

Dr M Adrees		Mild renal impairment assessed by serum cystatin C in subclinical hypothyrodism
Dr M V Ahmed		A simple and sensitive method for the determination of cyanide in whole blood using headspace gas chromatography with electron capture detection
Dr M V Ahmed		Comparison of serum PTH concentration measured using the Nichols AdvantageR Intact and Nichols AdvantageR Biointact assay kits
Mrs R Ajmal-Ali		Acromegaly presenting as PCOS
Prof A O Akanji		APOE polymorphism and lipoprotein levels in a Gulf Arab population
Mr K R Allen		Micronutrient concentrations in patients receiving long term parenteral nutrition
Mr K R Allen		Micronutrient concentrations in patients with cancer-effect of the inflammatory response
Mr N R Anderson		Is measurement intact parathyroid hormone a useful screen for vitamin D deficiency?
Ms P Angel		Point-of-care testing for urine HCG: an audit of North Thames activity
Ms Z Arkir		The case of the lost urate
Ms Z Arkir		Preliminary evaluation of IDS OCTEIA 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D kit
Dr A E Armston		'The worst case I have ever observed': an 11-month-old boy with severe eczema presenting with hyponatraemia due to severe malnutrition
Dr A E Armston		Wessex chemical pathology audit on the interpretation of serum cortisol levels
Dr L M Bailey		Comparison of three assays for the measurement of 25-hydroxycalciferol in patients with metabolic bone disease
Miss K L Bainbridge		Investigation of circulating cardiac troponin in serum following myocardial damage
Miss K L Bainbridge		Analytical evaluation of the Access AccuTnI cardiac troponin I immunoassay
Dr E J Barrett		Management of issues associated with the transfer of Abbott CA15-3, CA19-9 and CA125 tumour marker assays to the Immulite 2000 system
Mrs W E Bennitt		MHRA evaluation of three neonatal bilirubinometers
Ms S Bex		Complementing the patient with recurrent infections
Dr S A Bowles		Fibrate-induced hypoalphalipoproteinaemia
Ms Ann Bowron		The addition of 3-deazaadenosine to vacutainer tubes stabilises whole blood homocysteine for at least 6 hours at ambient temperature
Mrs V A Bradley		Audit of detection thresholds for cerebrospinal fluid xanthochromia by naked eye compared to spectrophotometry
Mr T Branch		A database designed to support the management of laboratory staff
Dr K Brent		Is procalcitonin a discriminant diagnostic marker of invasive bacterial infection in children presenting to acute services?
Dr D G Bullock		Matrix effects in EQA specimens
Dr S Bulusu		A cautionary tale about the importance of accurate assessment and management of hyperparathyroidism
Dr J A Burrows		Determination of thiopurine s-methyltransferase activity by capillary electrophoresis
Dr J A Burrows		Macroprolactin and the Tosoh AIA-21 prolactin assay: detection by precipiation with polyethylene glycol and determination of monomeric prolactin
Mrs C A Burtonwood		Evaluation of drugs of abuse test devices by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
Dr J Calvin		Six cases of cystic fibrosis wth neonatal hypertrypsinaemia and normal or equivocal sweat test results
Dr J Calvin		Raised immunoreactive trypsin in metabolic disease other than cystic fibrosis
Ms S A Carey		Audit as a tool to improve accuracy of PID entry
Dr R S Carling		Diagnosis of carcinoid disease: which test is best?
Dr C Chaloner		Biochemical monitoring for children receiving parenteral nutrition, Part I: urea, electrolytes, liver function tests, chloride and bicarbonate
Mr B Y Chan		Use of C-terminal telopeptides as a marker of recombinant RANKL-generated osteoclast resorptive activity on dentine wafers
Miss D j Chantler		Audit of thyroid function tests 2001: incidence and detection of secondary hypothyroidism
Dr R Chetty		Serum uric acid correlates with the 2-hour plasma glucose but not with fasting glucose
Dr R Chetty		The renal clearances of water and electrolytes after maximal water diuresis and post frusemide in the diagnosis of Gitelman's Syndrome
Mr John Christofides		Measurement of urinary metadrenalines by the new Chromsystems HPLC kit will improve specificity and save sample preparation time
Dr P M Clark		Inconsistencies in the measurement of serum/plasma insulin
Dr W Collins		Evaluation of the Roche E170 analyser for a routine clinical service
Mrs C M Corns		Herbal therapy and clinical biochemistry
Mrs C M Corns		Hypothyroidism in dragons
Mrs L M Cranfield		North Thames regional audit of haematinic performance by laboratories
Mr A P Cudmore		The final bottleneck: data entry congestion charges resolved by request form scanner
Mr C F Cusick		Congenital hypothyroid screening: the effect of changing collection date and TSH cut-off on age at treatment
Mr P Das		CRP: causing real problems
Dr E M Davidson		Point of care microalbuminuria testing: reduction in laboratory request numbers
Dr E M Davidson		Point of care test results are important in the interpretation of laboratory data
Dr K A Deans		Asymptomatic hypoglycaemia in continuous glucose monitoring
Miss J Donovan		Neurohormonal activation in patients with congenital heart disease
Dr A C Don-Wauchope		Acute pancreatitis prognostic score in practice
Dr A C Don-Wauchope		Clinical features of patients with macroprolactinaemia
Ms L J Downey		The interference of triglycerides on paracetamol measurement
Mr A R Ellis		UK NEQAS for LH: interference by hCG - possible diagnostic confusion?
Mr A S Everitt		Validation of Olympus bromocresol green albumin method for use with samples from patients with renal disease on haemodialysis
Mrs C Fahm		A relational database for communications management
Prof G Ferns		Trace element status in metabolic syndrome and obesity
Dr A M Fielding		Alternative approaches to the detection of macroprolactinaemia
Dr R A Fisher		A case of non-virilising adrenocortical adenoma co-secreting testosterone and cortisol in a woman with long-standing hirsutism
Dr Chris Florkowski		Elevated urine trace element output following acute volcanic gas exposure at White Island, New Zealand
Dr Chris Florkowski		Abbott Axsym Troponin I and Roche Elecsys Troponin T show comparable diagnostic accuracy for myocardial infarction
Dr C Ford		A case of paediatric iron deficiency anaemia resistant to treatment with oral iron
Dr L Ford		Can conventional dried blood spots be used for vitamin A and E determination?
Ms J M Forsyth		Wanted: a commercial BCP reagent that accurately measures albumin in serum and plasma
Dr G M Frederick		Are we able to comply with CPA standard E6 (referral of work to other laboratories)?
Dr S Fredericks		Elevated serum neopterin predicts major adverse coronary events in smokers with chronic stable angina
Dr S Fredericks		Plasma protein-Z deficiency is a risk factor for coronary artery disease
Miss J A French		Factors that affect the consensus means for LDL cholesterol in the UK NEQAS for Lipid Investigations
Dr S J Frost		An audit of oral glucose tolerance test requests
Dr D Gaffney		An improved choice of primers for diagnosis or exclusion of genetic haemochromatosis using DNA from post mortem tissue
Dr K S Gan		Development of non-radioactive methods for the detection of AGXT intron 4 VNTR and their application to linkage analysis of primary hyperoxaluria type 1
Mrs L Garrison		Evaluation of high-sensitivity CRP analyses on three automated platforms
Mrs L Garrison		CSF scanning for xanthochromia: impact of new guidelines on predicting patient outcomes
Dr A E Gbegbaje		Preliminary study of intestinal permeability in the assessment of gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with autism spectrum disorders
Dr R G Gray		Quantitation of urinary glycosaminoglycans using dimethylene blue for detection of the mucopolysaccharidoses: an evaluation
Miss J Greenwood		The role of hyaluronic acid as a marker of liver viability in non-heart beating donor porcine livers
Mr M Gunter		Introduction of Biorad Variant 2 HPLC analyser for measurement of HbA1c in clinical research
Dr A Haddon		The impact of weight loss on improvement of metabolic risk factors
Dr D J Halsall		Genotype-phenotype correlation in families with C1 inhibitor deficiency and hereditary angiodema
Dr D J Halsall		Application of linear dichroism to real-time PCR
Miss B E Harland		The use of gender-specific reference intervals are appropriate in the interpretation of urine total metadrenalines
Dr A J Hartland		A rare case of dense ocular deposition associated with IgG monoclonal gammopathy and hypercupraemia
Dr A M Hassan		Empty sella, full uterus
Dr A M Hassan		Assessment of lipid-profile service in North-West and Mersey regions of England
Dr F Hemraj		Evaluation of a fluoresence quenching method of serum fructosamine assay
Dr F Hemraj		Detection of incipient nephropathy in Mauritian diabetics: which strategy?
Dr F Hemraj		Home blood glucose monitoring: how useful can it be for the Mauritian diabetic?
Dr F Hemraj		Can creative protein be used as sole indicator for neonatal sepsis?
Dr F Hemraj		Type 2 diabetes: do haemoglobin variants interfere with glycaemic indicators in Mauritian diabetics?
Dr F Hemraj		Evaluation of a fluorimetric method to assay serum fructosamine in Mauritian diabetics
Dr M J Henderson		Total leukocyte cystine measurement, European Quality Assurance Initiative
Mr A D Heys		Low insulin results by Abbott Axsym assay in a case of insulinoma
Mr G J Higgins		Haemoglobinopathies incidence in a Merseyside, UK, diabetic population and effect on HbA1c assay with Menarini HA-8140 analyser
Dr P G Hill		IgA antibodies to human tissue transglutaminase: a first line test for coeliac disease
Dr P G Hill		13C-triolein as a marker substrate for fat absorption in humans
Dr T Hitch		Doing things together: an audit of B12 and folate results after the merger of a clinical chemistry and haematology department
Miss S L Hogg		Classical homocystinuria presenting as pregnancy-associated osteoporosis
Miss S L Hogg		Undiagnosed maternal phenylketonuria presenting as X-linked mental retardation
Dr H C Holmes		Evaluation of the Nichols AdvantageR immunoassay for plasma aldosterone
Dr H C Holmes		Evaluation of the direct renin assay on Nichols AdvantageR: how well can it detect low and suppressed plasma renin activity?
Dr J W Honour		Spironolactone interference in the immunoassay of androstenedione
Dr J W Honour		Recognition of Smith Lemli Opitz syndrome by urine steroid profile analysis
Dr S M Hughes		Could procalcitonin be a valid point-of-care test for invasive bacterial infection in children presenting to primary or secondary care?
Dr S M Hughes		Is procalcitonin the preferred marker of invasive bacterial disease in the early presentation of potentially serious infection?
Mrs U Huibers Gibbons		An unusual case of hypertension
Miss C Humphries		An audit of biochemistry incident reporting
Miss C Humphries		Perimenopausal hyperthecosis: a distinct pathological entity associated with marked hyperandrogenaemia
Dr F M Ivison		Concordance of results for two methods of calculating free testosterone concentration: are the results valid?
Mrs N F Jassam		Validation of PEG as a pre-analytical step for immunoassay of AFP, FSH and prolactin
Mrs M A Jenkins		Ten years use of capillary electrophoresis
Dr F Jenkinson		How often does the sixty minute cortisol result alter the interpretation of a short synacthen test?
Dr R John		Comparison of the Bayer ADVIA Centaur BNP assay with the Roche ELECSYS pro-BNP assay
Dr R John		Validation of PEG precipitation for the detection of macroprolactinaemia and quantitation of monomeric prolactin with the Bayer ADVIA Centaur assay
Dr R D Johnson		A web based pathology results reporting service developed in response to direct clinical need
Miss A M Jones		Evaluation of two non-radioactive microsatellite markers, 82-I and 9N-II, for the diagnosis of 21-hydroxylase deficiency
Dr R G Jones		A noval approach to the delivery of Down's syndrome screening risk calculations
Dr R G Jones		Medical decision support software validation: a Downs & 8217; risks calculator as an example
Dr A Kalansooriya		Increased lipid peroxidation in early diabetic nephropathy
Mr J W Kane		Investigations into the cause of the discrepancy in female testosterone results obtained by direct and extracted immunoassays
Mr M Kemp		Hyperhomocysteinaemia may account for the excess coronary heart disease risk in UK Indian Asians compared to European whites
Mr M Kemp		Plasma natriuretic peptides and left ventricular function following acute myocardial infarction
Miss M Khan		Investigation of the ferrochelatase gene in 14 patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria
Dr E S Kilpatrick		Can the addition interpretative comments influence outcome? an example involving patients taking thyroxine
Mrs K Kingstone		Tissue transglutaminase IgA measurement in a routine laboratory: an economical approach to screening for coeliac disease
Miss S Knox		DNA polymorphisms in the thiopurine S-methyl transferase gene
Mr P Koliou		Effect of lipid lowering therapy on biochemical markers of bone metabolism
Dr P A Kyd		A case of virilisation during pregnancy
Dr E J Lamb		Topiramate increases biochemical risk of nephrolithiasis
Dr E J Lamb		Estimation of glomerular filtration rate in older patients with renal insufficiency: is the MDRD formula an improvement
Mrs S A Lamph		MHRA evaluation of the BRAHMS KRYPTORTM immunoassay system
Mrs S A Lamph		MHRA evaluation of the Dynex Technologies DSXTM automated immunoassay
Mrs R Lapworth		The effect of electronic ordering on tests of renal function
Dr G J Lawson		Raised creatine kinase: "to start statin"
Dr G J Lawson		Evidence of myocyte necrosis in glycogen storage disease type II (Pompe's disease)
Mrs C E Leeming		Organic acid analysis by GCMS: development of a retention time locked database and automated peak identification system
Ms D Li		Thyroglobulin mRNA in thyroid cancer patients
Dr C Livingstone		Clinical validation of an assay for insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1
Dr Robert Lord		Acute pancreatitis severity stratification re-audit
Dr Robert Lord		An audit to study the management of hyponatraemia at a District General Hospital
Dr Robert Lord		Remember 'D' - teaching hyponatraemia: a personal view!
Ms H Losty		Evaluation of a novel conductometric device for sweat analysis in the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis
Mr B Lynch		Selenium, homocysteine and thryoid function
Mr F MacKenzie		A pilot UK NEQAS scheme for thyroglobulin
Miss R Maddison		Serum tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b as a marker of bone metastases in prostate cancer
Miss N A Marden		The use of serum anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody measurements for the management of patients with subclinical hypothyroidism in general practice
Dr S M Maxwell		Maternal dietary fat intake and cord blood total cholesterol and HDL cholesterolm concentrations
Miss B Mayers		Underivatised branched chain amino acid analysis in maple syrup urine disease by electrospray tandem mass spectrometry with chiral chromatography
Dr G McDowell		Platelet and endothelial activation in the diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes
Dr I McFarlane		Colourimetric methods for the measurement of lithium
Dr I McFarlane		A new LMNA mutation associated with familial partial lipodystrophy
Mr P J McGinley		Tumour markers: their use and misuse by clinicians
Dr P McKenna		Are interpretative comments on clinical chemistry reports perceived by users as useful?
Miss Susan McLellan		Polymorphisms in the P450 c17 and P450 c19 genes: association with sex steroids and bone mineral density in post-menopausal women
Miss F A Meakin		The determination of urinary iodine by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
Mrs S S Metcalfe		The potential role of CA-125 as a cardiac marker in the diagnosis and monitoring of congestive heart failure
Dr J G Middle		How good are we at measuring oestradiol and testosterone?: results of recent UK NEQAS ID-GCMS exercises
Dr J G Middle		IFCC vs 'DCCT' calibration for HbA1c: latest data from the UK NEQAS for Glycated Haemoglobins
Dr V Mishra		Normocalciuria: biochemical marker of exclusion for coeliac disease when screening patients with osteoporosis
Dr J M Monaghan		Longitudinal changes of IGFs and their binding proteins throughout normal pregnancy
Dr J M Monaghan		Neonatal hypocalcaemia: audit on its prevalence in a teaching hospital
Mr P Newland		Evaluation an d operator dependency of four point of care devices for the measurement of haemoglobin A1c
Miss C Noyce		Seminoma: will PLAP fill the gap?
Miss L S O'Shea		Expression and action of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases in pituitary cell-lines and human pituitary adenomas
Mr J Overton		Evaluation of latex-enhanced turbidimetric reagents for measuring free immunoglobulin light-chains on the Roche Modular P
Dr M Panarelli		A case of lithium associated hyperparathyroidism
Mrs A Parasram		Evaluation of pleural fluid and serum biochemical parameters in the differentiation of transudates and exudates
Miss Angela Parnham		Supplementing rapid HbA1c measurements in the presence of molecular variants: total GHb meters assessed
Dr A L Patterson		Metabolic autopsy: lessons from an MCAD diagnosis
Mr N Pearson		Comparison of troponin T (laboratory and point of care), myoglobin and CK-MB mass in diagnosis of myocardial infarction
Dr R T Peaston		Measurement of unconjugated plasma normetadrenaline and metadrenaline by immunoassay
Dr M D Penney		A case of obstructive sleep apnoea: natriuresis is associated with urine urodilatin excretion rate
Mrs C J Piggott		MHRA evaluation of automated pre-analytical sample processing and tracking systems
Mr L Piper		The electronic delivery of patient reports to general practice
Dr M A Pollock		A survey of availability of toxicological investigations in clinical biochemistry departments in Scotland
Dr M A Pollock		Treatment of hyperthyroidism with herbal medicine
Mrs S P Prosser		Audit of the diagnosis of diabetes in the outpatient setting
Mrs S Ram		Does macroprolactin contribute to circulating prolactin in patients with multiple myeloma?
Mrs S Ram		Do normoprolactinaemic samples contain macroprolactin?
Ms R L Raynor		A detectable hCG
Ms R L Raynor		What criteria should be used as a reflex testing strategy for multiple myeloma diagnosis using serum protein electrophoresis?
Mr Mark Redpath		Plasma IL-6 and low level C-reactive protein in women with systemic lupus erythematosus and in matched controls
Mr Rowland Reece		Audit of thyroid function tests elevated TSH in a GP population
Miss C A Reed		An immunocytochemical investigation into the sub-cellular distribution of peroxisomal proteins in X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy
Mr C Reeves		Presentation and diagnosis of a rare defect of creatine biosynthesis: guanidinoacetate methyltransferase deficiency
Dr N B Roberts		How high does plasma aluminium have to go to indicate poisoning
Dr N B Roberts		Simultaneous measurement of Cu, Zn and Se in physiological fluids by ICPMS
Dr B F Rocks		Simultaneous measurement of methionine, homocysteine and cysteine using liquid chromatography electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry
Mr A G Rumley		Is homocysteine an independent risk factor for myocardial infarction?: results from the Glasgow myocardial infarction study
Dr B O Saeed		Fasting homocysteine levels in adults with type 1 diabetes and retinopathy
Dr B O Saeed		Plasma homocysteine concentrations in patients with type 1 diabetes
Dr R M Saldana Chaparro		A reversed-phase HPLC method for plasma metadrenalines
Mr B Sampson		Clinical applications of ICPMS: approaches to instrument optimisation for multi-element analysis by reaction cell ICPMS
Mr M Sargazi		Biomarkers of cell damage in kidney proximal tubular cells exposed to copper
Dr N R Scott		Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus: impact of a lowered threshold for performing a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test
Dr G Shabo		An audit and a follow-up of Sunday morning laboratory service use
Dr G Shabo		An unusual case of floating fat in urine
Dr L A Shakerdi		Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry measurements of urinary mineralocorticoids as a diagnostic aid in the investigation of hypertension
Dr L Shakespeare		Urinary cortisone and cortisol in obese normal subjects; reference ranges and longitudinal changes
Dr R Sharma		A case of a premature baby with hypothalamic disturbance
Dr R A Sherwood		Serum Her-2/neu in prostatic disease
Dr R A Sherwood		Tumour marker M2-PK in prostate disease
Mr P Showell		Evaluation of latex-enhanced turbidimetric reagents for measuring free immunoglobulin light-chains on the Olympus AU400
Mr E A Skinner		Minimisation of the interference of bilirubin in the method for serum salicylate on Olympus AU640
Dr L J Smith		Sample storage and stability for free light chain assays
Miss N A Smith		An improved urine protein reagent for the Olympus AU640
Mr Ravinder Sodi		A natural killer (NK)-lymphocyte based LDL receptor assay for the detection of familial hypercholesterolaemia using flow cytometry
Mrs Christine Squire		Hyponatraemia following head injury
Dr R Srivastava		Dumfries diazepam: the potential dangers of illicit tablets
Ms H J Stowe		Serum cystatin C as a marker of renal function in multiple myeloma
Mr W Taylor		Effect of micronutrient supplementation on the stress response of ecto-f' nucleotidase
Dr Y P Teoh		A case of paraneoplastic creatine kinase
Mrs L J Tetlow		An evaluation of ward based glucose meters with connectivity capability in a paediatric hospital
Mr V A Tetlow		GC-MS assay for buprenorphine and norbuprenorphine in urine
Mrs L K Tilbrook		Audit of troponin I requesting patterns: 2 years experience of use in a district general hospital setting
Mr P M Timms		Vitamin D and matrix metalloproteinase 9 in submariners
Mr J A Tovey		Comparison of the Beckman Access AccuTnI and DPC Immulite Troponin I immunoassays
Mrs J M Townend		Blood glucose meter EQA scheme: a review of strategies for improvement over the last 5 years
Ms A L Trewick		Surveillance of External Quality Assessment of healthcare laboratories in the UK
Mrs L J Turnbull		Audit of sample labelling errors
Dr P J Twomey		Are triglyceride levels relevant when investgating interference due to turbidity with intralipid?
Dr P J Twomey		Investigation of an objective spectrophotometric assessment of turbidity according to the European Quality requirements
Dr D J Usher		Should anti-thyroid peroxidase be a laboratory-generated test in suspected subclinical hypothyroidism
Mrs J L Usher		The vitamin D receptor start codon polymorphism (Fok1) and bone mineral density in patients receiving corticosteroids
Mr B Valentine		Data management in multi-discipline, multi-site pathology networks
Dr D T Vallance		Is reporting LDL-C in the atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype misleading?
Dr D T Vallance		Is fasting plasma glucose reliable in predicting glucose tolerance in the atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype?
Dr D Van der Merwe		Evaluation of sample types and stability of N-terminal proBNP in patients with heart failure
Dr C Van Heyningen		Great clinical chemists from the 16th to the 20th century
Miss H Varney		Electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometric assay of 6-methylmercaptopurine as a measure of thiopurine methyl-transfersase activity
Miss J M Walker		A case of acute intermittent porphyria and pseudophaeochromocytoma
Mrs C Wands		The development of serum free light chain immunoassay on Bayer Advia 1650
Dr Ian Watson		Audit and re-audit of hyponatraemia in total join arthroplasty
Dr P R Wenham		Oxyhaemoglobin interferes with the determination of the net bilirubin absorbance in CSF
Mr Peter West		An audit of requests for serum protein electrophoresis in a district general hospital
Mr Peter West		An interesting case of a neonate presenting with trisomy 13 (Patau's Syndrome), glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency and hypothyroidism
Mr S J Whiting		Plasma acetyl L-carnitine and L-carnitine concentrations in HIV-1 infected individuals following acetyl L-carnitine supplementation
Mr S J Whiting		Comparison of plasma acetyl L-carnitine concentrations in HIV-1 infected individuals given acetyl L-carnitine supplements in either single or divided doses
Dr D Wickens		Multiple myeloma masquerading as tuberculosis
Dr R L Wilmot		That sickening feeling, cause or effect?: two cases of hypercalcaemia presenting in pregnancy
Dr W W Woltersdorf		Late onset primary hypoparathyroidism
Dr W W Woltersdorf		Refeeding syndrome: an effective and sfae protocol for treatment of hypophosphataemia
Dr P J Wood		A case of "permanent MI": doubling dilutions fail as a check for antibody interference in immunometric assays
Miss H Y Wu		Cystine and dibasic amino acids analysis by electrospray tandem mass-spectrometry of underivatised samples: a rapid method for cystinuria screening and monitoring