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Best practice in primary care pathology: review 8

¹ Department of Chemical Pathology, Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Bishop Auckland, UK
² Department of Haematology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK
³ Sowerby Centre for Health Informatics, All Saints Business Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
⁴ Department of Clinical Biochemistry, West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmonds, UK
⁵ Department of Histopathology, Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Bishop Auckland, UK
⁶ Department of Haematology, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Barnsley, UK
⁷ Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
⁸ Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, UK

Correspondence to:
Dr W S A Smellie
Department of Chemical Pathology, Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland, County Durham DL14 6AD, UK; info{at}smellie.com
ABSTRACT
This eighth best practice review examines four series of common primary care questions in laboratory medicine: (i) sodium abnormalities; (ii) faecal occult blood testing; (iii) warfarin management; and (iv) sputum cytology in diagnosis of bronchopulmonary malignancy. 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.