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Dear All, I would appreciate your advice on the following: In an attempt to improve the quality of our POCT urine pregnancy testing in the Trust following several incidents of both false negative and positive tests, we were intending to introduce an electronic urine strip HCG meter. However, on discussion with Nursing staff from some of the acute units in the Trust (i.e A&E, Gynae, Female Surgical) we have discovered that between 30-50% of urines analysed for HCG are blood stained. As far as I'm aware all urine HCG strips can produce false negatives in the presence of red cells (and other particulate matter) and the sample should ideally be centrifuged; this obviously isn't done in POCT. My questions are: 1. If urine samples are blood-stained (or contain other particulate matter), should they all be centrifuged before analysis for HCG or should they be analysed at all? 2. Is measurement of serum HCG the only viable option? 3. What do other labs do in this circumstance? Am I being unduly worried about this issue? Best wishes Peter Dr Peter C Sharpe Consultant Chemical Pathologist Southern Health & Social Care Trust Tel 028 38612657 Fax 028 38334582 This email is confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Southern Health and Social Care Trust. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender. ------ACB discussion List Information-------- This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical community working in clinical biochemistry. Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and they are responsible for all message content. ACB Web Site http://www.acb.org.uk List Archives http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html List Instructions (How to leave etc.) http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/