AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the clinical biochemistry part of the course is to allow the student to acquire basic knowledge on the clinical-diagnostic significance of the laboratory tests that explore the function of specific organs/apparatuses. This knowledge will be applied to the discussion of simple case-studies, allowing the students to put into practice the basic knowledge acquired and test their understanding of laboratory tests. Students will realize the extent and severity of deviation from the normal range of the laboratory test discussed in the course during pathological conditions. Students will be able: i) to identify the most appropriate laboratory tests to address specific diagnostic hypotheses, ii) to evaluate the results in terms of confirming or disproving these hypotheses, and iii) to evaluate which "omics" technologies to apply to identify new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. 

TEACHING METHODS

Face-to-face or video-recorded lessons (in presence), available on aulaweb

Please refer to the AulaWeb instance specific to the teaching for any updates due to changes in the health and epidemiological situation.

The lecture will present the various laboratory tests and simple case studies will be used to exemplify the clinical use of the tests for diagnosis, prognosis or disease exclusion.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

HEMATOLOGIC DIAGNOSTICS

The CBC

Iron metabolism

Anemias (morphological and etiological classification)

Hemoglobinopathies (thalassemia syndromes and structural hemoglobin variants)

Hemostasis

Markers of hemorrhagic/thrombotic risk

DIABETES MELLITUS

Hormones regulating glycemia

Causes of hyper- and hypo-glycemia

Diagnostic criteria for DM and GDM

Lab tests in diabetic ketoacidosis; OGTT; HbA1c; ketone bodies

Clinical cases of metabolic acidosis

THE ENDOCRINOLOGICAL LABORATORY

Steroid, peptide and aminoacid--derived hormones: function, basal levels and conditions of hyper-/hypo-secretion

Lab tests exploring thyroid function and thyroid autoimmune diseases

THE LABORATORY IN CNS DISEASES

The CSF, production, functions, CSF test (normal and pathological values of cytometric and biochemical tests)

CSF markers of Alzheimer's disease and dosing methods

Labboratory markers of Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis and Assay Methods

THE LABORATORY IN DISEASES OF THE GASTRO-INTESTINAL TRACT

Classification of adverse reactions to food

Laboratory tests for the diagnosis of allergies (IgE-mediated), food intolerance and celiac disease

Stool occult blood detection assays

THE LABORATORY IN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

Organ-specific and systemic autoimmune diseases

Autoantibodies in diagnostics, follow-up and prognosis

Assay methods for autoantibodies in Systemic lupus erythematosus/ systemic sclerosis/rheumatoid arthritis/ primary biliary cholangitis/autoimmune

The endocrinological lab

THE LAB IN PEDIATRIC DISEASES

The neonatal extended screening

Differential diagnosis in childhood obesity

THE LAB IN RESPIRATORY DISEASES

Pneumonia, COPD, pulmonary embolism

THE OMICS SCIENCES

A look at the future of clinical biochemistry in the identification of new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers starting from one/two-dimensional electrophoresis, moving on to peptide and protein arrays to conclude with high resolution mass spectrometry.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS

Main tests and algorithms that can be used in omics sciences, from contingency tables to define diagnostic specificity and sensitivity, to artificial intelligence algorithms.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The course handouts and slides are available to students on the web classroom

Common laboratory tests - Vaughn G. Appleton & Lange

Medicina di laboratorio, M. Ciaccio et al., Edises

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

For lessons start and timetable go to the link: https://easyacademy.unige.it/portalestudenti/

Please check the module Aulaweb page for timetable updates dependent on the sanitary and epidemic situation.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam will consist of a written test (30 multiple-choice questions, 4 answers for each question, one correct answer, no negative points for wrong answers, 15 minutes time), taken in person or on a digital platform in case of weather/health emergencies. Please refer to the specific AulaWeb page of the course for updates.

The test is passed with at least 18/30. The final grade will be the result of the average of the grades obtained for the two modules. The two parts of the exam can be taken on different dates; the grade obtained for a module remains valid for all exam sessions of the academic year.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam will verify the achievement of the learning outcomes; in particular, it will ascertain the student's knowledge of the clinical meaning of the biochemical-clinical parameters presented during the lessons, of the unit of measure in which they are expressed and of their dynamic range in the main pathologies for which they represent a diagnostic-prognostic tool. The ability to choose, among some proposed tests, those suitable to solve a specific diagnostic question, and the ability to identify deviations from the norm indicative of pathology, will be evaluated.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students with a certification of physical or learning disability filed at the University can find information about support services on the web page https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa, prepared by the "Sector for Services for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and with Learning Disabilities". 
It is also possible to contact Professor Cristina Carbone (cristina.carbone@unige.it), DISTAV representative for disabilities.