Endocrine Abstracts

Calcitonin assays remain a key requirement for the diagnosis and monitoring of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). Until recently calcitonin assays were mainly competitive radioimmunoassays (RIA) but there are now more specific immunometric assays (IMA) available. Cost and staffing pressures are emcouraging routine clinical chemistry laboratories to perform easier kit methodologies rather than refer samples to specialist centres. However, endocrine tumours are known to secrete ...

Vitamin D is essential to the control of calcium homeostasis and is mainly provided by exposure to sunlight. In the UK circulating Vitamin D is subject to seasonal variation with peak values occurring in early Autumn and trough values in late Spring. Requests for Vitamin D assays are increasing but few laboratories quote seasonal reference ranges and many commercial suppliers quote reference ranges for populations living in warmer, sunnier climates. This study established seas...