A Search for Uniformity in Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) Reporting

Varying reports across different laboratories or across different analysers in the same lab for the same sample is not an uncommon phenomena. Experts call this a lack of harmonization. A test that is harmonized provides the same results regardless of the manufacturer of reagents used or the laborato...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIndian journal of clinical biochemistry Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 142 - 147
Main Authors Mahto, Mala, Banerjee, Ayan, Kumar, Mukunda, Kumar, Sushil, Pandey, Jagjit
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New Delhi Springer India 01.01.2023
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Antibodies
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Care and treatment
Case Report
Case reports
Chemistry/Food Science
Chorionic gonadotropin
Epitopes
Glycoproteins
Gonadotropins
Health care industry
Laboratories
Life Sciences
Microbiology
Pathology
Patients
Pituitary (anterior)
Viral antibodies
Immunoassay
Case report
Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)
Harmonization
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Summary:Varying reports across different laboratories or across different analysers in the same lab for the same sample is not an uncommon phenomena. Experts call this a lack of harmonization. A test that is harmonized provides the same results regardless of the manufacturer of reagents used or the laboratory where the test is performed. When laboratory tests are not harmonized, the entire continuum of patient care can be affected in a number of ways. Here, we present a case of varying reports for a single serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) sample on two different immunoassay platforms for a young female presenting with an abdominopelvic mass. The lab reports for serum hCG for this particular patient showed inconsistent results with the same sample within the same lab. The phenomena behind this was lack of harmonization of test results. We introspect many of the factors responsible for lack of uniformity in hCG results amongst the major ones being with use of antibodies directed against different epitopes of hCG (analyte) and the heterogeneity of the hCG molecule itself. Harmonization is a process to ensure that different clinical testing procedures used by different laboratories give equivalent results. Harmonizing test results will enable healthcare providers to use clinical guidelines with greater confidence for diagnosing disease and managing patients.
ISSN:0970-1915
0974-0422
DOI:10.1007/s12291-021-00970-5