ABSTRACT
When patients present to the emergency department with acute illness, clinical chemistry investigations play an important role in their assessment and management. Presenting conditions may be primarily metabolic with disturbed biochemistry as the predominant feature or, more commonly, may be disorders where biochemical changes are secondary to another pathology. Examples of the first category would include hypoglycemia and electrolyte disorders, whilst examples of the second category would include myocardial infarction and acute pancreatitis. Common disorders which present as acute severe illness and where clinical chemistry plays an important role are listed below.
