Clinical Laboratories Services
The Clinical Laboratory services at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center are dedicated to providing quick and convenient diagnostic services, including testing in these areas:
- Chemistry -- the qualitative and quantitative analysis of body fluids such as blood, urine and spinal fluid. Testing includes therapeutic drug monitoring, thyroid function testing, glucose monitoring, and liver and kidney function panels. Test results are useful to clinicians in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
- Hematology -- the study of blood and its main constituents, red cells, white blood cells and platelets. The most frequently ordered test is the Complete Blood Count, or CBC, which quantitates these cellular elements. CBC results aid in the diagnosis of disease and in the monitoring of a patient's progress after diagnosis.
- Coagulation -- testing used to determine the body's ability to control bleeding after injury, or maintain hemostasis. Tests such Protime (PT) and Activated Partial Prothrombin Time (APTT) are used for the diagnosis of bleeding disorders and monitoring treatment of various disease states.
- Diagnostic Infectious Disease Testing -- tests patient samples for a number of bacteria, viruses, parasites and molds. Testing is performed on samples such as urine, throat swabs, stool and serum.
- Inborn Errors of Metabolism -- tests performed on body fluids for components of protein, sugar or fat metabolism in order to indirectly test for certain metabolic disorders.
- Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (MSL):
- The Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (MSL) provides an analytical resource for clinical and biological samples. It is recognized as one of the leaders in the cholesterol, steroid and bile acid metabolic defects analysis. Defects in synthesis and metabolism of cholesterol and bile acids can lead to cholestatic liver disease in children.
- A total of six genetic defects in bile acid synthesis have been discovered in this laboratory. The MSL provides an international service for the screening, diagnosis and treatment of infants and children with liver diseases caused by these inborn errors in bile acid metabolism.
- The MSL is also utilized for determining drug levels for many immunosuppressants including Sirolimus and Tacrolimus and the anticonvulsant drug Topiramate.
Phlebotomy / processing -- blood drawing and urine collection are performed by phlebotomy staff with pediatric expertise. Additional specialized collections include stool, sweat chlorides and some tissue collections. Processing includes routine sample handling, as well as special requests for studies and clinical trials. Processing covers all aspects of specimen preparation, storage and shipping.The Pathology Department at Cincinnati Children's also offers anatomical pathology, surgical pathology and cytology laboratory services. Also included in the Pathology Department is the Mass Spectrometry Laboratory. Learn more.
