[How to Interpret Routine Laboratory Data? Challenge Faced by Inexperienced Certified Clinical Laboratory Physicians...

At the annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Laboratory Medicine in Kobe in 2016, a joint symposium was held in cooperation between the Japanese Society of Laboratory Medicine and Japanese Association of Clinical Laboratory Physicians. We presented and discussed 5 cases at the Reversed Clinico-pathological Conference. Each case was analyzed by 5 new members of the Japanese Association of Clinical Laboratory Physicians, who had passed the examination for Certified Clinical Laboratory Physicians in 2015. After the presentation of their interpretation for basic laboratory tests, the correct diagnosis and useful practical advice were given by experienced Certified Clinical Laboratory Physicians. The first case involved hemolytic anemia due to valve replacement and multiple myeloma with the BJP type. The second case involved primary aldos- teronism with hypokalemia. The third case involved cold agglutination with a high value of MCHC. The fourth case involved pneumonia due to influenza virus. The last case involved diabetic ketoacidosis. All 5 cases were common rather than rare, and any members of the clinical laboratories may encounter them in routine work. A systemic analysis of routine laboratory data can sometimes directly lead to the correct diag- nosis using laboratory data alone and give doctors valuable clinical information on patients. Continuous daily efforts in systemic analysis will ensure that the evaluation skills of inexperienced Certified Clinical Laboratory Physicians in their hospitals will increase. Certified Clinical Laboratory Physicians in clinical laboratories are gatekeepers in every hospital from the viewpoints of both "medical audit" and "risk management".