Clinical pathology in veterinary geriatrics.

Abstract

Alterations in an individual analyte rarely provide an indication of the initiating circumstances that caused the abnormality. It is obvious from the previous discussion that multiple organs or organ systems can cause abnormal results in the same analyte. This fact underscores the importance of evaluating a biochemical profile in an integrated fashion, relating abnormalities of a particular analyte with the rest of the profile as well as with the signalment, history, and physical findings in the patient. Furthermore, assessment of abnormalities should be approached with some degree of skepticism because they may not be indicative of an actual disease.