November 9, 2026
Essentials in Clinical Chemistry: A Concise Overview of Common Analytes
Transcript
Elizabeth McMahon
Welcome to CAP News. I'm Elizabeth McMahon of the College of American Pathologists. It's Monday, November 9th. A new CAP reference book on clinical chemistry comes with a story that goes well beyond the laboratory. Essentials in Clinical Chemistry is more than just a quick reference guide to common chemistry analytes. It's also a testament to a decades-long friendship and professional partnership. For more than 35 years, renowned clinical chemistry educators Dr. Frederick Kiechle and Dr. Dorothy Adcock worked together on committees and lectures. They served on the CAP Publications Committee and wrote five editions of CAP's best-selling phlebotomy book. As they neared retirement, Dr. Kiechle proposed a new project.
Dr. Dorothy Adcock
Well known to us as Fritz, he just thought it would be a good idea to have a chemistry book that covered the most common analytes that was accurate, reliable, clinically relevant, and easily accessible. And he said, let's, you know, and we'd work together so much. He said, why don't we put something together? And at that time I was the chief medical officer for Lab Corp, and so I had a lot of laboratory experience.
Elizabeth McMahon
Throughout their careers, Dr. Adcock and Dr. Kiechle made a point of supporting the next generation of scientists and physicians. What we want to avoid is basically ticking off all the boxes of all the possible types of lab tests that could present in a patient with slightly abnormal bleeding factors and or a suspected bleeding history. So when they began work on the book, they invited several board-certified clinical chemists to join them. That included co-editor Dr. Zahra Shajani- Yi, a member of the CAP's Clinical Chemistry Committee.
Dr. Zahra Shajani-Yi
I think it's really great because in these roles as clinical chemists, you really understand the type of questions that clinicians have, and the and also the type of questions that laboratory staff may have. And so that is helpful because it tells me what's useful to be in this type of reference, reference book.
Elizabeth McMahon
Dr. Kiechle envisioned an authoritative reference that clinicians and laboratory staff could keep within reach. The team zeroed in on nearly 30 of the most frequently ordered analytes in the lab, from albumin to uric acid.
Dr. Zahra Shajani-Yi
These ones are that drive diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment decisions every day. These analytes form the backbone of metabolic panels, liver function tests, renal assessments, and some of the common endocrine evaluations seen in primary care. As they worked together on the guide, Dr.
Elizabeth McMahon
Kiechle wanted to ensure the formatting was easy and accessible for busy pathologists and lab staff.
Dr. Dorothy Adcock
And I think one of the helpful things in one of the ideas that Dr. Kiechle had was to make the format the same for each analyte. And so there's just, and there's the critical, clinically relevant information, and it's accurate. I mean, you can go to the web, but first of all, some of it's overly technical. You have to search through to find what you really need, but it's not always reliable. And so this has all been referenced, and it's based on our experience and our wisdom as well.
Elizabeth McMahon
A critical component of the project was including information and examples of variables that can cause abnormal results, since some clinicians aren't familiar with these interferences. Dr. Adcock uses a blood sample to illustrate where a pre-analytic variable can interfere with accurate test results.
Dr. Dorothy Adcock
If that sample isn't processed within a certain period of time, let's say even within 20 minutes, and what I mean by processed is spun down so that the red cells are separated from the serum. If that doesn't happen, then the red cells continue to consume glucose. And so the glucose levels fall in a clinically significant manner. And that's such a critical analyte, especially with all of the testing that is done for diabetes and prediabetes.
Elizabeth McMahon
Dr. Kiechle, a former medical director of clinical pathology at Memorial Healthcare in Florida, died in 2024. But his vision didn't stop with essentials in clinical chemistry.
Dr. Zahra Shajani-Yi
We're actually hoping that our next edition will address additional assays such as lipid testing, endocrine hormones, tumor markers, and special proteins. And that's just a start.
Elizabeth McMahon
For Dr. Adcock, the clinical chemistry book perfectly encapsulates how her energetic friend approached education and their fruitful collaborations.
Dr. Dorothy Adcock
Fritz was just an amazing thinker. He was always coming up with new ideas, and that really spoke of the way he was in the laboratory as well as outside the laboratory as an educator.
Elizabeth McMahon
Essentials in Clinical Chemistry: A Concise Overview of Common Analytes is available at the C-A-P bookstore and on Amazon. That’s all for this episode of CAP News. Share this newscast with your social media network. If you are watching this video on YouTube, hit the like button and leave a comment. And if you’ve got a story we should be covering, write to us at stories at cap dot org. We're back tomorrow at 5 AM Eastern for another episode of our newscast. I'm Elizabeth McMahon. Have a great day.