PT (prothrombin time; pro-time) – PT testing measures the amount of time it takes for blood to clot. When the liver is damaged, its ability to make clotting factors is impaired. If this time increases – referred to as a prolonged PT interval – it shows that the liver is not working so well.
Glossary
Selected words and phrases
protozoa – a single-celled animals that are larger and more complex than bacteria.
mitochondria – energy producing factories that live inside other cells.
specificity – when referring to the accuracy of a test result, specificity refers to the proportion of people who do not have an illness or disease who have a negative test result.
If a test has low specificity, the concern is over false-positive results – where people who to not have a condition are wrongly diagnosed as having it.
If a test has high specificity, then people who to not have a condition are correctly ruled out from the condition.
For a serious condition, high specificity is essential to prevent people being unnecessarily treated.
See sensitivity.
axis – line on a graph to measure data. Graphs usually have a vertical axis (y-axis) and horizontal axis (x-axis). An axis should show what is being measured and the units of measurement, eg ‘time (in minutes)’.