Klinisk Biokemi i Norden · 4 2019
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The congress aims to present updated knowledge
and state of the art on a variety of topics. The motto
of the congress is “Bridging science and clinical care”,
and it reflects the ambition to focus on scientific
achievements and innovations in laboratory medi-
cine with an impact on patient care. In addition, it is
inspired by all the bridges crossing the river running
through the city.
The scientific program is about to be completed.
We are planning 14 different scientific sessions, with
topics relevant for laboratory professionals, medical
researchers and health care personnel with an interest
in laboratory medicine. Many prominent speakers
will contribute with lectures on state of the art and
on leading-edge science in a number of exciting areas.
We are particularly proud that world-leading experts
will give keynote speeches on central topics, such as
cardiac troponins (Fred Apple, USA), evaluation of
diagnostic tests (Patrick Bossuyt, The Netherlands),
fetal cell-free DNA (Dennis Lo, Hong Kong), proteo-
mics (Matthias Mann, Germany) and brain research
(Menno P. Witter, Norway).
The scientific sessions will be about a variety of
topics. Some lectures will be overviews of state of the
art in laboratory medicine; others may be in depth
presentations of recent scientific achievements. In
addition to the article by Jan Brox and Maria Averina
in this number of KBN, some background for a few
of the sessions is presented below.
Ethics in the Laboratory
By Gunhild Garmo Hov, Department of Clinical
Chemistry, St. Olavs hospital, Trondheim University
Hospital, Trondheim
Frequently, laboratory professionals reveal unex-
pected, incidental findings that the clinician did
not order. An example is the finding of a possible
hemoglobin-variant when we measure HbA1c with
a chromatographic method. Should we report this
to the clinician or not? We know that laboratories
choose different approaches and solutions to such
issues. As laboratory professionals, we also choose
different approaches to more technical issues such
as method comparisons. However, in such cases, we
have a toolbox to use and some guidelines to follow.
We can, for example, look at the Bland-Altman plot
or the Passing-Bablok regression etc. Do we have such
a toolbox for the ethical challenges in the laboratory?
In a session about ethics in the laboratory, we will
present a - for some - very familiar practical case with
incidental laboratory findings, where the right way
to handle the results does not seem obvious. We will
use interactive polls to exchange opinions with the
audience and use this as a base for hopefully fruitful
presentations and discussions of more general ethical
challenges associated with laboratory testing. Pro-
fessor in medical ethics Berge Solberg will describe
relevant ethical issues in laboratory medicine. Andras
Pahle, a general practitioner will illuminate patients´
and the clinicians’ perspectives. Jón Jóhannes Jónsson
will present the laboratory doctor’s perspective and
perhaps give us a toolbox for solving ethical problems
in the laboratory. Jon Magnussen, professor in health
economics, will deal with health economic perspec-
tives related to screening and testing. And you - the
audience - will be given the chance to reflect and
express your opinions on this.
You can kill your thirst on a floating bar. Bring a life jacket...
Photo: Gustav Mikkelsen.
