Intraoperative parathyroid hormone

Compared with other topics in this book examining tests used at the point-ofcare such as glucose, urinalysis, occult blood, hemoglobin, cardiac markers, drugs of abuse, etc., parathyroid hormone (PTH), may appear out of place. However, the definition of point-of-care testing has expanded considerably and thus, as a result, so have the number and diversity of tests available. Point-of-care testing no longer refers only to critical-care-type tests performed using a handheld device but to any test or diagnostic procedure performed near or at the point of patient care regardless of test type, methodology, or device characteristics. Thus, PTH, although not in the category of waived tests, yet analyzed in a rapid fashion in the operating and angiography suites, can be included in the rapidly growing list of point-of-care tests (1).