Laboratory Diagnostics in Thrombosis and Hemostasis: The Past, the Present, and the Future

Abstract

Welcome to another issue of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis. This is actually the first of a series of issues that we have planned with a focus on the clinical-laboratory interface. Laboratory scientists working in the field of pathology tend to be focused on laboratory test results and the mechanistic processes involved in generating test “numbers.” Nevertheless, it must be recognized that laboratory scientists also have a duty of care both to patients, whose samples they are testing, and to the clinicians who request the tests and who are caring for these patients. This duty of care involves ensuring not only the precision of test results (which can substantially be guaranteed these days given modern laboratory instrumentation and by making sure that laboratories follow appropriate quality processes) but also that test results accurately reflect the status of the patient under investigation (a goal that is sometimes more elusive for reasons often outside the control of the scientists performing the laboratory tests). Laboratory scientists also have a role in assisting clinicians beyond that of test performance, and this relates to postanalytical guidance. Clinicians also have a duty of care to ensure that they best manage patients under their care. This is best ensured by a thorough understanding of the laboratory test process and of the strengths and limitations of pathology testing. We hope that our planned series of issues of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis achieves the intended goal, namely the bridging of the laboratory-clinical interface, and generates a better appreciation of laboratory practice among clinical practitioners within the field of hemostasis and thrombosis. The current issue of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis begins this process largely by taking us back to laboratory fundamentals.