Jacob Rudjord Therkildsen, Cindy Søndersø Knudsen, Tina Parkner
{"title":"Serum neuron-specific enolase - reference interval in Danish children and the impact of preanalytical factors.","authors":"Jacob Rudjord Therkildsen, Cindy Søndersø Knudsen, Tina Parkner","doi":"10.1515/cclm-2025-0582","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2025-0582","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is a clinically relevant biomarker used in the assessment of neuronal damage and in the diagnosis and monitoring of certain cancers. Despite its diagnostic importance, paediatric-specific reference intervals (RIs) for NSE are currently lacking. This study aimed to establish paediatric RIs for NSE in serum and to evaluate the influence of preanalytical factors on NSE measurements.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Residual serum samples from routine allergy testing in 242 Danish children (aged 0.1-17.9 years) were analysed using the Roche Elecsys<sup>®</sup> NSE assay on a Cobas platform. Both traditional non-parametric, age-partitioned RIs and continuous RIs derived via quantile regression were established. In addition, we assessed the impact of preanalytical variables, including haemolysis, and evaluated a previously proposed correction method for haemolysed samples within this cohort.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both the non-parametric and continuous approaches yielded consistent RIs, showing an age-dependent decline in serum NSE concentrations irrespective of sex. The traditional age-partitioned RI (95th percentile, one-sided) indicated upper limits of 36.9 μg/L and 32.0 μg/L for the age groups 0-5 and 6-17 years of age, based on samples with haemolysis <10 mg/dL haemoglobin.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study defines age-specific paediatric RIs for serum NSE, demonstrating a physiological decline with age and highlighting higher NSE levels in healthy children compared to adults. Furthermore, within a limited range, a previously proposed simple linear correction method was validated for adjusting NSE values in mildly haemolysed samples using the newly established RIs.</p>","PeriodicalId":10390,"journal":{"name":"Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145205776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jenny Yeuk-Ki Cheng, Brett C McWhinney, Avis C McWhinney, Danijela Kocic, Damien Gruson, Ronda F Greaves, Chung Shun Ho
{"title":"Post-analytical practices in clinical mass spectrometry laboratories: an international survey across 57 countries.","authors":"Jenny Yeuk-Ki Cheng, Brett C McWhinney, Avis C McWhinney, Danijela Kocic, Damien Gruson, Ronda F Greaves, Chung Shun Ho","doi":"10.1515/cclm-2025-1136","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2025-1136","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is increasingly used in clinical laboratories due to its high analytical specificity and multiplexing capabilities. While the pre-analytical and analytical phases have seen significant advances in automation, the post-analytical phase remains a bottleneck with limited standardisation. This survey aimed to identify gaps, benchmark practices against guidelines, and inform recommendations for improving consistency and quality in post-analytical data handling.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A descriptive electronic survey with 53 questions was distributed via the IFCC mailing list and collaborating organisations from May to July 2024. Questions covered participant characteristics, post-analytical quality indicators (e.g., chromatograms, calibration curves, ion ratios), quality assurance, and data management. Responses were benchmarked against three LC-MS/MS guidelines.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 311 initial responses, 203 valid submissions from 57 countries were analysed. Laboratories reported diverse throughput: low (<100 samples/week, n=50), medium (100-2,000 samples/week, n=125), and high (>2,000 samples/week, n=28). Key findings included inconsistent acceptance criteria (e.g., variable ion ratios and signal-to-noise thresholds), reliance on manual data transcription (38 % of laboratories), and continued use of in-house spreadsheets. Practices often deviated from guidelines, with opportunities identified for harmonisation and automation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In collaboration with the clinical mass spectrometry community, the IFCC-ETD developed six key recommendations from this survey to address challenges and enhance consistency, quality, and efficiency in post-analytical data handling.</p>","PeriodicalId":10390,"journal":{"name":"Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145198566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michael Vogeser, Monika Brüggemann, Ulrich Sack, Christoph Weinstock, Stefan Zimmermann, Albrecht Stenzinger
{"title":"Expert opinion within the context of the targeted evaluation of Regulation (EU) 2017/746 on <i>in vitro</i> diagnostic medical devices pursuant to Article 111 and Regulation (EU) 2024/1860.","authors":"Michael Vogeser, Monika Brüggemann, Ulrich Sack, Christoph Weinstock, Stefan Zimmermann, Albrecht Stenzinger","doi":"10.1515/cclm-2025-0941","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2025-0941","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>EU laws are usually evaluated after 10 years; in the case of the IVDR, the targeted evaluation was brought forward and stakeholders in laboratory diagnostics were invited to comment. The Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF; Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften e.V.), recognises a relevant need to amend the IVDR with regard to <i>in-vitro</i>-diagnostic medical devices that are manufactured and used in healthcare facilities but are not placed on the EU market. Inadequate overregulation is recognised and should be corrected as part of the generally required reduction of bureaucracy.</p>","PeriodicalId":10390,"journal":{"name":"Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145191475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Requiem for the Passing-Bablok nonparametric regression in assessing the agreement between two measurement methods.","authors":"Bruno Mario Cesana, Paolo Antonelli","doi":"10.1515/cclm-2025-0581","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2025-0581","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Regulatory guidelines recommend non-parametric Passing-Bablok regression for evaluating the agreement between two measurement methods in laboratory settings. However, concluding for the agreement if the 95 % CI of the slope and of the intercept include 1 and 0, respectively is incorrect since the agreement assessment must focus on a null hypothesis of not equivalence and an alternative hypothesis of equivalence.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We exhaustively simulated appropriate structural models with several values of slope, intercept and measurement error by keeping equal variances and means of the two methods. We calculated the slope and intercept bias of four regressions: non-parametric Passing-Bablok, Theil, Ordinary Least Squares and Deming. In addition, we calculated the percentages of the agreement according to the not shareable Passing-Bablok suggestion. Furthermore, we calculated the percentages of the 95 % CI of the slope and of the intercept included within sensible equivalence thresholds for assessing the agreement.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Passing-Bablok procedure gives unbiased estimates, a little more and less biased than those from Deming's regression. The percentages of rejecting the hypothesis of no-agreement, according to the wrong Passing-Bablok's approach are correctly near to 0.05 Type I error under the agreement and also for 0.990≤slopes≤1.005. However, they are too low for slopes >1.05 and <0.950.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The Passing-Bablok 95 % CIs are too wide for being included in sensible agreement thresholds according to a population equivalence model and, finally, this approach cannot be considered under the best agreement model of the individual equivalence.</p>","PeriodicalId":10390,"journal":{"name":"Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145181874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andreas Bietenbeck, Jakob Adler, Jürgen Durner, Julian Gebauer, Sascha Lüdemann, Burkhardt Müller, Matthias Orth, Thomas Streichert, Alexander Tolios, Bernhard Wiegel, Alexander von Meyer
{"title":"Supporting trend detection in the cumulative display of electronic laboratory reports from multiple laboratories while preserving measurement provenance.","authors":"Andreas Bietenbeck, Jakob Adler, Jürgen Durner, Julian Gebauer, Sascha Lüdemann, Burkhardt Müller, Matthias Orth, Thomas Streichert, Alexander Tolios, Bernhard Wiegel, Alexander von Meyer","doi":"10.1515/cclm-2025-1160","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2025-1160","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Electronic health records will increasingly aggregate longitudinal laboratory results from multiple providers, but availability alone does not guarantee safe interpretation. We present guidance, developed by laboratory professionals with the DGKL medical informatics division, for cumulative displays that are clinically meaningful. The core principle is to group medically comparable analyses while preserving laboratory provenance so that clinicians can follow true patient trends without conflating them with laboratory-induced variation. Comparability is defined algorithmically from Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) axis: analyses estimating the same patient property (allowing serum/plasma system equivalence and mathematically convertible properties such as substance vs. mass concentration) are grouped; coding of units is harmonized via Unified Code for Units of Measure (UCUM) with consistent conversion of numeric results and corresponding reference intervals, including inequality qualifiers. Analyte-specific conversion factors should come from authoritative sources; for poorly standardized measurands (e.g., tumor markers) or when conversions are inappropriate (e.g., Lp(a)), results remain separated. Methodological distinctions that affect interpretation - such as screening vs. confirmatory drug testing and point-of-care testing - are displayed independently to signal potential analytical discontinuities. A standardized, medically meaningful default result sequence - derived from LOINC metadata and clinical nomenclatures, with alphabetic naming as a pragmatic fallback - supports cross-laboratory aggregation; rare or novel tests lacking robust standardization remain as free text. The rules-based approach updates seamlessly with LOINC releases and remains compatible with the Nomenclature for Properties and Units (NPU), facilitating cross-border exchange within the European Health Data Space. While harmonized presentation improves trend analysis, true comparability ultimately requires measurement procedures traceable to reference methods and materials.</p>","PeriodicalId":10390,"journal":{"name":"Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145136739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yue-Qi Li, Gui-Cheng Ye, Jing-Ying Yang, Gong-Jun Tan
{"title":"Establishing reference intervals for high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T in neonates and infants.","authors":"Yue-Qi Li, Gui-Cheng Ye, Jing-Ying Yang, Gong-Jun Tan","doi":"10.1515/cclm-2025-0985","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2025-0985","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>High-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) is used in pediatric healthcare to diagnose and assess the prognosis of various cardiac diseases, such as acute myocarditis, congenital heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, and heart failure. However, the standardized age-related reference intervals, 99th percentile cut-offs, and clinical guidelines are currently unavailable, especially in newborns and infants, making interpreting this biomarker challenging.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Residual serum samples were collected from 1,047 pediatric subjects with no cardiovascular disease, including 145 neonates and 902 infants. The concentrations of hs-cTnT were analyzed using Roche's Elecsys Troponin T hs assay. The age-related 99th percentile cut-offs with 90 % confidence intervals (CIs) of hs-cTnT were established.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Subjects were divided into age subgroups as follows: newborns (0-30 days, n=142), infants aged 1 month (31-60 days, n=223), 2 months (61-90 days, n=152), 3-4 months (91-150 days, n=211), 5-6 months (151-210 days, n=149), and 7 months-1 year (211-365 days, n=149). Serum hs-cTnT concentrations were highest during the first month of life and progressively declined in a year. The 99th percentile cut-offs of hs-cTnT concentration in each group were as follows: 114 (90 % CI: 114-114), 65.6 (63.7-66.1), 55.2 (54.4-55.2), 30.4 (29.1-30.9), 23.5 (22.1-23.5), 12.7 (12.4-12.7) ng/L. The 97.5th percentile cut-offs for each group were 109.4 (105.2-114), 62.5 (60.5-63.9), 52.3 (50.3-54.4), 29 (28.5-29.1), 20.5 (19.2-23.4), and 12 (12-12.1) ng/L.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study aimed to provide reliable pediatric reference values for hs-cTnT based on a population of well-child children. These reference intervals and 99th percentile cut-offs will inform clinical decisions in the pediatric cardiology setting.</p>","PeriodicalId":10390,"journal":{"name":"Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145136762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Moving to practice with the application of Milan model 1b-based analytical performance specifications.","authors":"Mauro Panteghini","doi":"10.1515/cclm-2025-1014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2025-1014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The definition of analytical performance specifications (APS) by the Milan model 1b is based on <i>indirect</i> approaches investigating the impact of analytical performance of the laboratory test on clinical classification and thereby on the probability of patient outcomes. As direct diagnostic outcome studies (Milan model 1a) for defining APS are now considered very difficult and costly to be performed in practice, expert groups have gathered to reach consensus on how to use available information and apply Milan model 1b to the definition of APS. They have highlighted three major aspects: a) the definition of the clinically acceptable misclassification rate(s); b) the influence of the clinical pathway and patient population and setting (disease prevalence) when diagnostic thresholds are defined, e.g., in guidelines; and c) the intended use of the test. The basic question calling for an answer is how to move forward and provide specific APS for certain measurands that are key in clinical decision making. Here, cardiac troponin testing is used as a practical example for the application of model 1b-derived APS. Proposals are made for moving to practice with the application of this model to APS definition.</p>","PeriodicalId":10390,"journal":{"name":"Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145136714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Quentin Pomorski, Maxime Delrue, Ellias Bato, Mayssa Selmi, Bruno Megarbane, Georges Jourdi, Virginie Siguret
{"title":"Interference with immunofixation in a dabigatran-overdosed patient treated with idarucizumab: beware of a diagnostic pitfall.","authors":"Quentin Pomorski, Maxime Delrue, Ellias Bato, Mayssa Selmi, Bruno Megarbane, Georges Jourdi, Virginie Siguret","doi":"10.1515/cclm-2025-0859","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2025-0859","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10390,"journal":{"name":"Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145136721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Staining and serological characteristics of the AC-30 pattern in HEp-2 IIFA: a comparative study with AC-2 pattern.","authors":"Chuiwen Deng, Ningxin Li, Ruxi Hu, Yina Bai, Shulan Zhang, Renfang Zhou, Yunyun Fei, Chaojun Hu","doi":"10.1515/cclm-2025-0817","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2025-0817","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To investigate the staining and serological characteristics of AC-30 pattern.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 184 participants were recruited from patients who underwent routine antinuclear antibody testing between 2022 and 2023 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Cohort 1 (n=47) showed the AC-30 pattern on HEp-2 indirect immunofluorescence assay, and cohort 2 (n=137) showed AC-2 pattern as control. Anti-DFS70 antibody detection and DFS70 antigen adsorption assays were conducted. Pattern simulation assays were performed by combining serum samples exhibiting classic AC-2 pattern with other common HEp-2 IIFA patterns.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Anti-DFS70 antibodies were detected in 97 % of patients in cohort one and in all patients in cohort 2. The titers of the IIFA pattern showed a weak correlation with anti-DFS70 antibody levels in cohort 1 (r=0.35, p=0.0331). In DFS70 antigen adsorption assays, a higher proportion of homogeneous nuclear staining was observed in cohort 1 (79 %) than in cohort 2 (62 %) (p=0.037). Simulated samples mixed classic AC-2 with homogeneous pattern resembled those of AC-30 pattern in both interphase and mitotic cells. Especially, the staining characteristics of AC-2 became increasingly indistinct when mixed with higher-titer homogeneous patterns. Among samples exhibiting homogeneous patterns post-DFS70 immunoadsorption, non-autoimmune conditions were more common in cohort one than cohort two.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The presence of relatively lower anti-DFS70 antibodies levels or coexisting high-titer homogeneous patterns may contribute to the development of the AC-30 pattern rather than AC-2. This finding needs to be further confirmed in larger-scale studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":10390,"journal":{"name":"Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145136746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}