ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To automate the radioimmunoassay (RIA) of steroids in a diagnostic clinical laboratory. SETTING: The Laboratory of Pediatric Endocrinology, Cornell Medical Center-New York Hospital. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: A tertiary-care center supporting the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric patients with endocrine disorders. PRODUCT COMPARISON: The Packard MultiPROBE Model 100 Automated Liquid Handling System (Packard Instrument Company, Meriden, CT 06450) was compared with the assays typically used to assist in the diagnosis of steroidogenic disorders in children: extraction of biologic fluids, celite partition chromatography, and RIA. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT: The comparative efficiency, cost-effectiveness, specificity, and sensitivity of the two methods. RESULT: The automated RIAs correlated (r = 0.963) with the established manual assays for steroids. The specificity and sensitivity of the assays were uniformly maintained after automation. CONCLUSION: The automation of steroid RIAs has made the method a highly efficient and cost-effective one for diagnostic clinical laboratories.
