Evaluation of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the York Faecal Calprotectin Care Pathway.

Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the York Faecal Calprotectin Care Pathway (YFCCP) and undertake a health economics analysis. The YFCCP has been introduced in support of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance DG11. It is designed to improve the sensitivity and specificity of faecal calprotectin (FC) in discriminating the irritable bowel syndrome from inflammatory bowel disease in primary care.

An analysis of the relationship between serum cortisol and serum sodium in routine clinical patients.

Objectives: Adrenal insufficiency is an uncommon cause of hyponatraemia that should not be overlooked due to the severe consequences of an Addisonian crisis. Using the laboratory database of a large teaching hospital, we have explored the relationship between serum sodium and serum cortisol, and have estimated the frequency of hypoadrenalism in severely hyponatraemic patients.

Design And Methods: Data were gathered over a 23 month period from the Laboratory Information Management System at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for instances where serum sodium and cortisol had been measured on a single sample.