Below you will find various videos related to interpretation of biochemical results or physiology of various analytes.
Interpreting biochemical panels
In this video, one approach to interpreting the wealth of data in biochemical panels is provided. We essentially compartmentalize the data into organ systems or metabolic changes, including acid-base disturbances, and then step back and put the case together with the rest of the results (physical examination findings, hemogram, urinalysis, imaging results) and what we know of the patient. This can then lead us to additional tests that we may want to run to help us with diagnosis or patient management and treatment.
Acid-base principles
In this first of a series of videos on acid base disturbances, basic principles of acid-base status are covered: What is an acid or base? What is an acidosis and alkalosis? What is acidemia and alkalemia? How does the body react to an acid-base abnormality?
Acid-base disturbances
This is the second of a series of videos on acid-base disturbances. In this video, the types of acid-base disturbances that occur are outlined, along with distinctions between primary and compensatory responses and a definition of mixed disturbances. The types of acid-base abnormalities are summarized in flow charts
Acid-base tests
In this third of an acid-base series, the different tests we use to diagnose acid-base disturbances are reviewed, with the expected changes seen with the various types of primary acid-base disturbances. This video also introduces the concept of electroneutrality and the “gamblegram” to help explain how changes in chloride are linked to changes in bicarbonate and how we use disproportionate changes in chloride with respect to sodium (or free water) to identify acid-base disturbances, specifically a hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis and a hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis.
Compensation
In this fourth of a series of videos on acid-base disturbances, how the body responds to primary respiratory or metabolic disturbances is discussed. Formulae for determining expected compensation are provided, along with the expected laboratory test results in a blood gas panel or chemistry panel.
Mixed acid-base disorders
In this video, types of mixed acid-base disturbances and laboratory test clues as to their detection are discussed.
Causes of acid-base disorders
In this sixth of a series of videos on acid-base status, the types of diseases causing different primary acid-base abnormalities are provided, including a primary respiratory acidosis and alkalosis and a primary metabolic acidosis (titration and bicarbonate loss or hyperchloremic) and alkalosis.
Diagnosis of acid-base disturbances
In this final video on a series on acid-base status in animals, an approach is provided on how to examine laboratory test results, and put the results together with what is known about the patient, to diagnose acid-base disturbances. Fiven laboratory data from a blood gas analysis and a chemistry panel from a sick dog, this approach is then used to identify the acid-base abnormalities in the animal, determining which are primary disturbances or which are compensatory responses.
Bilirubin metabolism
This un-narrated animated video created in powerpoint outlines how bilirubin is produced, and then is taken up and conjugated by the liver, before being excreted into bile. The consequences of excess production, defective uptake or conjugation in the liver, and defective excretion (or cholestasis) on total bilirubin concentrations and the bilirubin split (indirect and direct bilirubin concentrations) are covered, along with conditions resulting in a combination of these processes. The final slides summarize the animations and provide a (non-exhaustive) list of diseases associated with high bilirubin concentrations in blood.
