Closing the gaps in pediatric reference intervals: An Update on the CALIPER Project

摘要

Pediatric healthcare is critically dependent on accurate and precise laboratory tests/biomarkers of pediatric disease, and on the availability of 'reference intervals', which are normative values that allow for appropriate clinical interpretation. Children are not small adults; child physiology is dynamic and child development and growth profoundly influence laboratory test reference intervals. Unfortunately, there has been a lack of clearly-defined pediatric reference intervals for most tests performed on children and adolescents. Information is also lacking on the effects of age, gender, BMI and ethnic origin on pediatric reference intervals. These critical gaps seriously compromise the ability of pediatricians to accurately diagnose medical conditions in their patients, thereby delaying diagnosis and significantly increasing healthcare costs. CALIPER (Canadian Laboratory Initiative on Pediatric Reference Intervals) is an ongoing collaboration between pediatric centers across Canada to address the critical gaps in pediatric reference intervals. CALIPER has recently established pediatric reference intervals based on healthy community children for a number of routine laboratory biochemical, endocrine and metabolic markers (www.caliperdatabase.com).