Publications by authors named "Hilde Vandenberghe"
Objectives: Verifying new reagent or calibrator lots is crucial for maintaining consistent test performance. The Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH) conducted a patterns-of-practice survey and follow-up case study to collect information on lot verification practices in Ontario.
Methods: The survey had 17 multiple-choice questions and was distributed to 183 licensed laboratories.
Background: Diagnosing acute heart failure (AHF) in undifferentiated dyspneic emergency department (ED) patients can be challenging. We prospectively studied a validated diagnostic prediction model for AHF that uses patient age, clinician pretest probability for AHF, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as a continuous value to determine its utility and performance.
Methods And Results: This was a multicenter randomized controlled trial of undifferentiated dyspneic patients with an indeterminate pretest probability of AHF as assessed by the treating emergency physician (EP).
Background: We report a case of thyroid storm caused by consuming a Chinese herb contaminated with thyroid hormones.
Case Report: A 70-year-old man presented to an emergency department after 2 days of nausea, vomiting, and weakness. Three days previously, he had started taking Cordyceps powder and "Flower Man Sang Hung" as recommended by his Chinese physician.
Objective: The objective of the study was to compare the International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group (IADPSG) and the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) criteria for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study involving all pregnant women who underwent screening for GDM at a tertiary medical center between 2008 and 2011. Diagnosis of GDM during the study period was based on the CDA 2008 recommendations of universal screening with a 50 g oral glucose challenge test (GCT; threshold 140 mg/dL [7.
Background: Levamisole was removed from the market due to complications of agranulocytosis and skin necrosis. Levamisole has been reported in a high proportion of seized cocaine in North America and has been associated with multiple cases of skin necrosis.
Objective: We report three cases of levamisole/cocaine-induced skin necrosis who responded to treatment with plasmapheresis and immunosuppression.
Background: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and tandem LC-MS (LC-MS/MS) are increasingly used in toxicology laboratories as a complementary method to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (LC-UV) for comprehensive drug screening (CDS). This study was designed to characterize the sensitivity and specificity of three LC-MS(/MS) vendor-supplied methods for targeted CDS and identify the current limitations associated with the use of these technologies.
Methods: Five methods for broad spectrum CDS, including LC-UV (REMEDi), full scan GC-MS, LC-MS (ZQ-Mass Detector with MassLynx-software), LC-QTRAP-MS/MS (3200-QTRAP with Cliquid-software) and LC-LIT-MS/MS (LXQ Linear Ion Trap with ToxID-software) were evaluated based on their ability to detect drugs in 48 patient urine samples.
Background: A 2001 study suggested that supplementation with 5 mg folic acid, among women of childbearing age, is needed to render maximum protection against neural tube defects (NTD). No human study is presently available which examined the pharmacokinetics of 5 mg folic acid.
Objective: To compare the pharmacokinetics of ingesting a single dose of 5 mg versus 1.