Julie Smith

University College Copenhagen (Københavns Professionshøjskole) · Department of Technology

Introduction Immature granulocyte percentage (IG%) is an important biomarker for infection control. We observed spurious cases where the IG% was dramatically underestimated on the automated Sysmex XN‐series hehmatology analyzer compared with manual differential. These cases were associated with high values of “Neutrophil Reactivity Intensity” (NEUT...

Digital pathology (DP) is changing pathology departments dramatically worldwide, yet globally, few departments are presently digitalized for the full diagnostic workflow. Denmark is also on the road to full digitalization countrywide, and this study aim to cover experiences during the implementation process in a national context. Thus, quantitative...

Introduction Differential counts of leukocytes are frequent, and often several automated blood cell counters are needed in contemporary laboratories. However, these modules are often individually quality assured. Our aim was therefore to validate the interchangeability of five hematology modules in a large modern laboratory and to compare them with...

Aims Though formalin remains to be the gold standard fixative in pathology departments, analytical challenges persist for nucleic acid evaluations. In our laboratory, formalin fixation of skin samples in particular impairs diagnostic accuracy and demands repetition of biopsies and analytical procedures. PAXgene Tissue Systems may be an alternative;...

Introduction Circulating immature precursor cells indicate malignant diseases like acute myeloid or lymphoid leukemia, and blast cells are key finds for disease management. Automatized cell counters are an essential contemporary appliance for blast detection, but false‐positive samples remain challenging in terms of time and resources. To reduce th...

The objective of the present feasibility study was to transfer single cell line cells to either microscopy slides for downstream immune characterization or to polymerase chain reaction tubes for downstream DNA quantitation. Tumour cell lines, SKBR3 and MCF7 and trophoblast cell line JEG-3 were spiked in healthy donor blood. The CytoTrack system was...

Cardiac myocytes express the cholecystokinin gene (CCK) at propeptide level. We recently reported that cardiac CCK expression is acutely regulated by isoprenaline in a porcine model. The regulation of CCK expression after myocardial infarction, in exercise, and in severe heart failure is, however, unknown. Cardiac tissue was obtained from healthy n...

Background: Deviation in blood collection procedures is a central source of preanalytical variation affecting overall analytical and diagnostic precision. The order of draw of venous sampling is suspected to affect analytical results, in particular for coagulation analysis. Here we compare the procedures in venous blood sampling among clinical bio...

Background: A blood sample containing circulating tumor cells (CTCs) may serve as a surrogate for metastasis in invasive cancer. Cryopreservation will provide new opportunities in management of clinical samples in the laboratory and allow collection of samples over time for future analysis of existing and upcoming cancer biomarkers. Methods: Blo...

Disruption of the circadian rhythm can lead to obesity and cardiovascular disease. In white adipose tissue, activation of the natriuretic peptide receptors stimulates lipolysis. We have previously shown that natriuretic peptides are expressed in a circadian manner in the heart, but the temporal expression profile of their cognate receptors has not...

Background Retracing and biomarker characterization of individual circulating tumour cells (CTCs) may potentially contribute to personalized metastatic cancer therapy. This is relevant when a biopsy of the metastasis is complicated or impos‐ sible to acquire. Methods A novel disc format was used to map and retrace individual CTCs from breast-cancer...

Measurement of cardiac natriuretic peptides in plasma has gained a diagnostic role in the assessment of heart failure. Plasma measurement is though hampered by the marked instability of the hormones, which has led to the development of analyses that target N-terminal fragments from the prohormone. These fragments are stable in plasma and represent...

C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is a member of the natriuretic peptide family. Cardiac ANP and BNP expression is firmly established, whereas CNP expression in the mammalian heart remains controversial. In the present report, we used a porcine model of the neonatal period with high expression of cardiac ANP and BNP in order to elucidate the cardiac...

Plasma measurement of cardiac natriuretic peptides constitutes promising markers of congenital heart disease. However, concentrations change rapidly and dramatically during the first days after delivery even in healthy neonates, which complicates clinical interpretation. It is unknown whether these changes in plasma concentrations are explained by...

Aim: To examine concentrations of three cardiovascular propeptides in umbilical cord plasma of neonates born to mothers with Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes. Measurement of cardiovascular markers in umbilical cord plasma may potentially help identify neonates at risk of postnatal complications. Neonates born to mothers with diabetes have a...

Patients may suffer from right ventricular (RV) failure and malignant cardiac arrhythmias after late pulmonary valve replacement correcting pulmonary regurgitation (PR). But the underlying mechanisms of the refractory arrhythmias are not well understood. The aim of present study was to characterize the RV myocardium after percutaneous pulmonary val...

Introduction: Pulmonary regurgitation (PR) following repair of right ventricular (RV) outflow obstruction is related to slowly progressive RV dilatation and heart failure and will eventually require surgical intervention, but optimal timing of pulmonary valve replacement is challenging. Tissue Doppler based quantification of RV contractility may o...

It is still uncertain if cardiac natriuretic peptides are useful biomarkers in paediatric cardiology. In this review we identify four clinical scenarios in paediatric cardiology, where clinical decision-making can be difficult, and where we feel the paediatric cardiologists need additional diagnostic tools. Natriuretic peptide measurements could be...

Little is known of the impact of acute right ventricular (RV) volume overload on RV function. We assessed the impact of acute severe pulmonary regurgitation (PR) on global and regional RV function by applying novel quantitative echocardiographic markers of myocardial performance in an animal model. Transthoracic echocardiography, including tissue-D...