A Test for Occult Blood at Helena Laboratories

The detection of occult blood is critical for the detection of many gastrointestinal diseases.

TX, TX (prHWY.com) March 6, 2013 - Texas, Mar 06, 2013 - The detection of occult blood is critical for the detection of many gastrointestinal diseases. The presence of occult blood infecalmaterial may indicate gastrointestinal pathology such as hemorrhoids, diverticulitis, fissures, colitis or colorectal cancer. Fortunately, these conditions can be detected with
several diagnostic methodologies available which include testing of stools for occult blood, complete physical examination with digital examination, and procto­
sigmoidoscopy. Air contrast barium enema and fiber optic colonoscopy also contribute significantly to the diagnosis of colonic lesions. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of bowel and rectal cancers are found on digital examination and patients with no symptoms of bowel disease do not readily present themselves for procedures
such as proctosigmoidoscopy and barium enema.

Test For Occult Blood - ColoScreen is a simple, aesthetic, inexpensive test designed for use in the collection and preparation of stool specimens. It overcomes the instability of guiaiac solution and the hypersensitivity of benzidine and ortho tolidine.10 If a positive result is obtained with the test, a follow up with additional diagnostic tests, as soon as possible, is essential. As with any occult blood test, results with ColoScreen cannot be considered conclusive evidence of the presence or absence of gastrointestinal bleeding or pathology. The test is not intended as a replacement for other diagnostic procedures such as proctosigmoid oscopy examination, barium enema, and X ray studies.

ColoScreen is composed of guaiac impregnated paper enclosed in a cardboard frame which permits sample application to one side, and development and interpretation on the reverse side. The process involves placing two specimens, collected from each of three successive evacuations, onto the guaiac paper. ColoScreen, like all guaiac paper tests for occult blood, is based on the oxidation of phenolic compounds present in the guaiac (i.e. guaiaconic acids) to quinines resulting in production of the blue color1.

ColoScreen is a guaiac slide test for the qualitative detection of fecal occult blood. It is a useful aid in the diagnosis of a number of gastrointestinal disorders
and is recommended for use in:

1. Routine physical examinations
2. Routine hospital testing
3. Mass screening for colorectal cancer


Occult Blood Test - The detection of occult blood is critical to many gas-trointestinal diseases. The presence of occult blood in fecal material may indicate gastrointestinal pathol-ogy such as hemorrhoids, diverticulitis, fissures, coli-tis or colorectal cancer. Fortunately, these conditions can be detected with several diagnostic methodolo-
gies available which include testing of stools for occult blood, complete physical examination with dig-ital examination, and proctosigmoidoscopy. Air con-trast barium enema and fiberoptic colonoscopy also contribute significantly to the diagnosis of colonic lesions. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of bowel and rectal cancers are found on digital exami-nation and patients with no symptoms of bowel dis-ease do not readily present themselves for proce-dures such as proctosigmoidoscopy and bariumenema.

About the Author:

Test For Occult Blood - Helena Laboratories is a clinical laboratory instrument and reagent manufacturer. Our clients include major medical centers, small hospitals, large reference laboratories and small private doctor's laboratories.

Contact Details:

HELENA Laboratories
Beaumont, Texas,
USA

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Categories: Health

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