CAPcasts

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) with PML-RARA is a true clinical emergency. Due to the rapid onset of this disease and rapid deterioration of the patient, it is important for pathologists to quickly and accurately identify APL, explains Dr. Juli-Anne Gardner in this CAPcast. Dr. Gardner developed a Clinicial Pathology Improvement Program or CPIP course on this topic (https://capatholo.gy/2Zw1tku).

MAHA is a nonimmune condition characterized by hemolytic anemia either due to abnormalities in the microvasculature or to intravascular devices that lead to fragmentation of the red blood cells. When MAHA is combined with thrombocytopenia, it is referred to as thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). Pathologists may get requisitions for peripheral blood smear review that say “rule out MAHA”, explains hematopathologist Dr. Vandita Johari.

While these may appear like a simple question, these patients tend to be complex and have multiple comorbid conditions and a clear understanding of the laboratory findings and approach to differential diagnosis of this condition is required to provide an appropriate answer. Dr. Johari lead the development of a case-based course on this topic as part of the CAP’s Clinical Pathology Improvement Program—or CPIP (https://capatholo.gy/2zdW1rR).

This year’s CAP annual meeting features 25 new courses and a diverse portfolio of programs that are central to daily practice. As chair of the CAP Curriculum Committee, Dr. Sarah Bean leads a multi-disciplinary group of pathologists through the rigorous process of reviewing and selecting the educational courses presented at the annual meeting. In this CAPcast, Dr. Bean discusses the key offerings of CAP19, which will be held Sept. 21-25 in Orlando, Florida. Register now for CAP19: https://capatholo.gy/2Vzqkm9.

Dr. Husain Sattar, a well-known pathology educator to medical students, provides insights as to what a pathologist does, his story on why he chose the specialty of pathology, and advice he would give to medical students interested in exploring pathology.

Statistical quality control or QC is a fundamental part of clinical laboratory practice; it assures that methods are performing at their usual level. Laboratories can make two main types of errors in selecting QC rules: too tight or too loose and both have ramifications, explains CAP inspector Dr. Robert Dufour in this CAPcast. If control limits are set too tight, time and money will be spent evaluating results that are already acceptable for patient care needs. However, use of too loose control limits will prevent them from detecting changes in method performance that may lead to suboptimal patient care and PT failures, explains Dr. Dufour, who also led the development of a CME course (https://capatholo.gy/2YXzY2M) on this topic as part of the CAP’s Clinical Laboratory Improvement Program or CPIP.

The CAP’s annual meeting, CAP19, is about knowledge, relationships and expertise. Held Sept. 21-25, CAP19 courses are designed to help you learn today and apply tomorrow when you return to your institution, particularly if you are a pathology resident, explains Dr. Adam Booth, Chair of the CAP Resident Forum Executive Committee. In this CAPcast, Dr. Booth outlines the key benefits at CAP19 for residents, including educational courses and the Residents Forum which kicks off with a reception the night of Sept. 20, followed the full meeting on Sept. 21.

Register now for both events: www.capannualmeeting.org.

Whether a pathologist has future aspirations or feels panic stricken with new responsibilities, those who are managing a practice will need to understand payment models, budgeting concepts, practice operations, and cost structures to maximize income, explains pathologist Dr. Andrea Volk, a graduate of the CAP's Practice Management Fundamentals Workshop, which will be taking place August 17-18 (https://capatholo.gy/2Y18EVU).

In this CAPcast, Dr. Volk discusses the business skills critical to running a practice and why it’s so important for pathologists to have a solid understanding of the financials related to operating a successful practice.

Biorepositories are responsible for maintaining specimen integrity over long periods of time. Ensuring that specimens are stored at temperatures appropriate for their intended use is a critical component to ensuring their quality. While storage units are typically equipped with primary and secondary temperature monitoring probes, these probes often only provide a temperature sampling of one small region within the storage unit. However, variables within the storage unit that impact airflow or the effectiveness of insulation can adversely affect the uniformity of temperature, creating ‘silent’ warm spots that can compromise specimens within.

In this CAPcast, Dr. Erik Zmuda, will share his experience from serving as a Technical Director in the Biospecimen Core Resource at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, by discussing why it’s important for laboratories to develop a method for evaluating temperature uniformity within biorepository storage units and how pathologists and laboratorians can confront the complex task of assembling the tools and methods for running a freezer mapping program on their own.

More information on biorepositories, including the CAP's Biorepository Accreditation Program (BAP), is available on CAP.org: https://capatholo.gy/2LveVSV.

Many parasites are considered “tropical diseases” so depending upon where you are in the world, you may not have a chance to diagnose parasitic infections with any degree of frequency. But maintaining ongoing competency in making an accurate diagnosis of a parasitic infection can therefore be challenging, explains UK Medicine pathologist Dr. Julie Ribes in this CAPcast. Dr. Ribes will be leading a CAP19 course on this topic entitled, “Case-Based Identification of Parasites in Tissues and Cytologic Specimens: on Sept. 21 in Orlando, Florida. For more information and to register for the meeting, visit www.capannualmeeting.org.

Not only is Dr. Barbarajean Magnani a world-renowned pathologist specializing in toxicology, she is also a novelist. And just in time for the summer reading season, Dr. Magnani has released her second book featuring the brilliant—yet complex—physician Dr. Lily Robinson, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of all toxins and poisons, as well as a penchant for stilettos. In this new book, entitled The Queen of All Poisons (https://capatholo.gy/2Jwc60G), the U.S. Government approaches Dr. Robinson to rid the world of threats to our nation, including a terrorist threatening New York City. Meanwhile, Dr. Robinson quickly realizes the Russians have already released a deadly toxin in a surprisingly innocuous medium.

In this CAPcast, Dr. Magnani discusses her book, the inspiration behind her eponymous character or Dr. Lily Robinson, and why she’s decided to pursue another career as a novelist. Dr. Magnani is donating a portion of the book's proceeds to the CAP Foundation's See, Test & Treat program, a pathologist-led initiative that delivers free cervical and breast cancer screening to vulnerable women in the United States (https://capatholo.gy/2RG0Ous).