title: Best practice in primary care pathology: review 12.
abstract: This twelfth best practice review examines four series of common primary care questions in laboratory medicine: (i) antiepileptic drug monitoring; (ii) infectious diarrhoea; (iii) methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus; and (iv) brain natriuretic peptide. The review is presented in question-answer format, referenced for each question series. The recommendations represent a précis of guidance found using a standardised literature search of national and international guidance notes, consensus statements, health policy documents and evidence-based medicine reviews, supplemented by MEDLINE EMBASE searches to identify relevant primary research documents. They are not standards but form a guide to be set in the clinical context. Most are consensus rather than evidence-based. They will be updated periodically to take account of new information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Pathology, Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Bishop Auckland, County Durham DL14 6AD, UK. info@smellie.com
authors.forename: W S A
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Smellie
authors.forename: C A M
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: McNulty
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Collinson
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bowley
mesh_terms: D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000097:blood*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology*; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000032:analysis*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain