Guidelines for lupus anticoagulant testing in South Africa

Development of consensus guidelines for anticardiolipin and lupus anticoagulant testing.

Interlaboratory and intermethod variation in commercial and in-house tests used for the measurement of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and lupus anticoagulant (LA) limit the diagnostic value of the results from these tests. This short review summarizes published and unpublished guidelines (some developed using consensus procedures) on aCL and LA testing that are aimed at decreasing assay varia...

Trials and tribulations in lupus anticoagulant testing.

This issue of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine includes a report by Pradella and colleagues regarding a cooperative multicentre study to define the upper limits of normal for several tests used in the diagnostic assessment of lupus anticoagulant (LA) [1] . In total, 200 normal samples were assessed, comprising 40 from each of five centres, for a total of six functional LA assays. Each...

Allergic rhinitis in South Africa: 2012 guidelines.

BACKGROUND Allergic rhinitis (AR) is an important disease in South Africa. The South African Allergic Rhinitis Working Group (SAARWG) has published previous guidelines for AR diagnosis and management. Areas of concern have arisen that require additional information, including the management of AR in infancy, appropriate and inappropriate allergy testing, cost of AR management, diagnosis and dis...

Practice guidelines for videoconference-based telepsychiatry in South Africa.

Genetic testing for Huntington's disease in South Africa.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a late-onset inherited progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterised by motor impairment, chorea, dementia and psychiatric disturbances associated with selective neuronal death in the striatum and cortex. Onset of the disease is usually in midlife, with most cases being diagnosed between 35 and 50 years of age, with a range from 2 to 90 years. Death usually o...