E. Arthur Robertson

Distribution of serum concentrations of creatine kinase MM and BB isoenzymes measured by radioimmunoassay

Because of the recent interest in measuring serum enzyme concentration as opposed to catalytic activity, we measured the serum concentration of creatine kinase isoenzymes BB and MM by radioimmunoassay and the total creatine kinase enzymatic activity in healthy adults. For sex-race subgroups we report mean values and the 2.5, 5, 25, 50, 75, 90, 95 and 97.5 percentiles. Differences among average values of the subgroups were highly significant. Results within subgroups frequently departed from a gaussian distribution.

Approaches to selecting appropriate subjects for evaluating clinical tests

Abstract Appropriate selection of subjects is a critical element in assuring a valid evaluation of the clinical usefulness of a laboratory test. Careful definition of the clinical question to be answered by the test clearly points to the target population from which a representative sample must be obtained.

Predicting space and personnel in academic clinical pathology

This report compares the results from two surveys of the resources of academic clinical pathology departments. In 1971, the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists (ACLPS) obtained data from 25 academic clinical pathology departments on actual workload variables (census, procedures per year, admissions per year, and outpatient visits per year), along with estimates of ideal space and ideal staffing. A study conducted by NIH obtained data from 31 academic clinical pathology departments for 1976 for the same workload variables, along with actual and ideal space and actual staffing. Regression analyses were performed with space, technical personnel, and doctoral personnel as the dependent variables and patients per day, admissions per year, and numbers of procedures per year as the independent variables. For each study, admissions per year and patients per day were statistically significant predictors of both departmental space and technical personnel. The slope of each significant regression from the ACLPS study was greater than the comparable significant slope from the NIH study. These data provide a basis for comparing resources among academic clinical pathology departments, assessing current resources, and projecting future needs.