ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The present proficiency study aimed to elucidate the comparability and reliability of test systems for the determination of AFP concentrations. METHODS: 25 laboratories using 8 different commercial test systems used liquid BIOREF-AFP control serum in their routine internal quality control over a period of one year. For statistical analysis the results were collected centrally. RESULTS: The statistical analysis of the test results revealed considerable variation for the different laboratories. The deviations of the mean values of different laboratories from the overall mean value varied between 0.1 and 26.1%, and for most of the laboratories the deviation was round about 10%. The precision of measured values in the individual laboratories was in most cases acceptable: Nevertheless, the coefficients of variation of the individual laboratories ranged from 13 to 16.1%. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, this study indicates that AFP results vary between different laboratories albeit an international standard for AFP is available. Therefore, every laboratory should participate in external ring studies and should use a quality control serum independent of the test kit manufacturer for the internal quality control.
Subject(s)
Clinical Laboratory Techniques/standards , Reagent Kits, Diagnostic/standards , alpha-Fetoproteins/analysis , Adult , Cell Line, Tumor , Clinical Laboratory Techniques/statistics & numerical data , Female , Humans , International Cooperation , Liver Neoplasms/blood , Liver Neoplasms/diagnosis , Male , Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal/blood , Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal/diagnosis , Pregnancy , Reference Values , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
The shortage of donor organs for renal transplantation leads to the necessity of accepting organs with vascular disadvantages, such as venous difficulties (eg, shortness, disrupted vein after explantation) or arterial problems (eg, iatrogenic vascular accidents, arterial plaques, hemodynamically relevant polar arteries) and horseshoe kidneys. Consequently, such organs may not be considered for transplantation. Surgeons still have the ability to use such organs by saphenous vein interposition. This study focused on the frequency of vascular difficulties in 100 randomly selected kidney transplantations and their outcomes after arterial or venous saphenous vein interposition.
Subject(s)
Kidney Transplantation/adverse effects , Saphenous Vein/surgery , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Humans , Middle Aged , Renal Artery/surgery , Retrospective Studies , Salvage Therapy , Transplantation, HomologousABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To describe our technique of robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy and intra-abdominal formation of an orthotopic neobladder (Hautmann) for treatment of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. METHODS: We describe our surgical technique in the worldwide first attempt to perform a robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy and completely intra-abdominal formation of an orthotopic neobladder. The DaVinci System (Intuitive Surgical, Mountain View, CA, USA) was utilized to perform the procedure. RESULTS: Utilizing the DaVinci System the operation could be performed without any complications. Operating time was 8.5 hours, blood loss was 200 ml. The oncologic as well as the functional result of the reservoir were excellent. DISCUSSION: We here demonstrated that sophisticated laparoscopic procedures like the intra-abdominal formation of an orthotopic neobladder are accomplishable with robotic assistance.
