A clinician's guide to the office measurement of cholesterol
J. J. Burke 2nd and P. M. Fischer
Department of Family Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta 30912.
The office laboratory has the potential to be an ideal setting for
cholesterol testing if accurate test results are achieved. This study
describes the performance of three office chemistry analyzers (Abbott
Vision, Boehringer-Mannheim Reflotron, and Kodak Ektachem DT60 Analyzer) in
the measurement of cholesterol. The accuracy of these instruments was
assessed by testing aliquots of 84 plasma specimens and comparing these
results with values obtained in one of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute's Lipid Research Clinic laboratories. To evaluate instrument
precision, results from each of the three instruments were compared with
the cholesterol standards recently released by the College of American
Pathologists. When operated according to the manufacturers' recommended
procedures, each of the three instruments demonstrated analytic
capabilities that met the current accuracy and precision goals established
by the National Cholesterol Education Program. Analytic issues that are
pertinent to the clinician's role as both the office laboratory director
and the test interpreter are reviewed.
