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. 2024 Sep 23:15:1451748.
doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1451748. eCollection 2024.

Proficiency testing within Eurotransplant

Yvonne M Zoet  1 , Sebastiaan Heidt  1 , Marissa J H van der Linden-van Oevelen  1 , Geert W Haasnoot  1 , Frans H J Claas  2
Affiliations

Proficiency testing within Eurotransplant

Yvonne M Zoet et al. Front Genet. .

Abstract

Eurotransplant is responsible for the international allocation of organs between eight countries in Europe. All HLA laboratories affiliated to Eurotransplant must be EFI or ASHI-accredited and must participate in the Eurotransplant external proficiency testing (EPT) program, organized by the Eurotransplant Reference Laboratory (ETRL). EPT within Eurotransplant has a long tradition, starting in 1978. The current EPT program consists of the following schemes: HLA typing including serology, CDC crossmatching, HLA-specific antibody detection, and identification. Participants enter the results of laboratory tests using a web-based application. Assessed results are visible on the website. An additional component called "patient-based cases" runs since 2016. Results are summarized and published on the EPT website. Furthermore, these results are discussed during the annual extramural tissue typers meeting, which is organized by the ETRL. Thanks to this EPT program, the performance of all HLA laboratories affiliated to Eurotransplant can be monitored and corrected, if necessary. Because all affiliated laboratories are assessed in the same EPT program, where these laboratories show to be consistent in most of their results, Eurotransplant EPT has proven to be an efficient tool to create a more uniform level of quality of histocompatibility testing within Eurotransplant.

Keywords: Eurotransplant; histocompatibility testing; patient-based cases; proficiency test; solid organ transplantation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Discrepancy rates in HLA typing (percentage discrepancies over the years 2014–2023; source Eurotransplant).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Discrepancy rates crossmatching (percentage discrepancies over the years 2014–2023; source Eurotransplant).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Discrepancy rates in HLA-specific antibody detection CDC (A) and methods (B) over the years 2016–2023 (source Eurotransplant).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
False-negative and false-positive rates in HLA-specific antibody identification with CDC-based methods over the years 2014–2023 (source Eurotransplant).
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
False-negative and false-positive rates in HLA-specific antibody identification with SAB-based methods over the years 2014–2023 (source Eurotransplant). *As of 2023 DQA, DPA and DPB specificities were included.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Participation per technique for HLA-specific antibody identification over the years 2013–2023; number of participants on the vertical axis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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