SEQC Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine

Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine

 • The document, “What parameters should a basic lipid profile include?”, has been published in the official journal of the Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQC^ML), “Advances in Laboratory Medicine/Avances en Medicina de Laboratorio".

• Recommendations are included for the development and standardization of criteria that allow the incorporation of lipid control objectives in laboratory reports that are appropriate to patients’ vascular risks.

The Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQC^ML) has played a crucial role in the preparation of the first Spanish consensus document for the determination of a lipid profile in clinical laboratories. The publication, "What parameters should a basic lipid profile include?" was created with the collaboration of the Spanish Society of Arteriosclerosis (SEA) and the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC), with the consensus of 12 other Spanish scientific societies involved in the study of cardiovascular risk. The work has been published in the official journal of the SEQC^ML, "Advances in Laboratory Medicine/Avances en Medicina de Laboratorio", as well as in the other journals of scientific societies that have subscribed to the consensus document.

This document, and the role of each of the members of the medical treatment process for cardiovascular monitoring, were discussed during the debate panel of the 35th edition of the SEA Congress, "From the laboratory to the clinic without a solution of continuity: The debate is open." In this talk, as reported by Redacción Médica, a Spanish media outlet specializing in health information, it was revealed that the Clinical Laboratory has gone from being a mere executor of requests for analytical tests to becoming an active participant in the identification of important lipid alterations.

Cardiovascular diseases, which include coronary heart disease and stroke, remain the leading cause of death and disability in the world. In Spain, they are the leading cause of death, ahead of tumors. The Clinical Laboratory is a fundamental part of the healthcare process in prevention, diagnosis, monitoring and control in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

According to Dr. José Puzo, member of the Committee on Lipids and Vascular Diseases of the SEQC^ML and participant in the panel debate, this publication is a "basic consensus proposal on the determination of a lipid profile in cardiovascular prevention, which includes recommendations for its implementation and unification of criteria; in order to incorporate in laboratory reports the lipid control objectives appropriate to the vascular risk of the patients. All medical laboratories should incorporate these recommendations into our normal work procedures”.

The scientific committee of the SEQC^ML includes the Commission on Lipids and Vascular Diseases. This Commission, as Dr. Puzo asserted, has been decisive in the creation of the consensus document. “The courses carried out by this Commission, as well as the aforementioned document, address key aspects to be considered in the determination of lipids; in the pre-analytical phase (fasting or not, position at the time of extraction, clinical context of the patient), analytical phase (determination and calculation methods), and post-analytical phase (how the results should be reported, reference or alarm values)”.