Ultrasensitive C-Reactive Protein (uCRP) EQA

Accreditation Status:

Date Scheme started:

1999

Clinical Applicability:

Monitoring of the acute phase response in neonates. Prognostic indicator of cardiovascular disease and risk assessment for coronary artery disease.

Analytes:

Ultrasensitive C-Reactive Protein (SER/028)

Units for Reporting:

mg/L

Samples Distributed:

Liquid format. Normal and pathological human serum.

Additional materials may be produced for specific recovery experiments by the addition of purified CRP to an analyte-free serum matrix.

Number of Distributions per year:

Number of Samples per Distribution:

Frequency of Distributions:

Every month as outlined in the Distribution Schedule

Schedule of Analysis:

Data entry is via the web for the submission of results. Data analysis commences 14 days after sample dispatch. Late returns are accepted and will contribute to the laboratory's cumulative performance statistics.

Data Analysis:

All Laboratory Trimmed Mean (ALTM) with truncation at 2SD, SD, and CV%.

Reports also show method specific statistics.

Individual laboratory performance is expressed in terms of MRBIS, SDBIS, and MRVIS.

Chosen Coefficient of Variation for Ultrasensitive C-Reactive Protein is 8%.

Performance Scoring:

MRVIS

Criteria of Performance:

Laboratory performance is classified in terms of the MRVIS over a running analytical window of 12 Distributions (12 months)

	MRVIS
Ideal	<50
Good	50-100
Adequate	101-200
Poor	>200 or SDBIS > 200

Persistent Poor Performance:

Defined as being in the Poor Performance category for two or more successive Distributions