Intraoperative parathyroid hormone testing: survey of testing program characteristics.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the number and testing characteristics of laboratories that offer intraoperative testing of intact parathyroid hormone (PTH).


METHODS
Laboratories (n = 355) that participated in 2001 in PTH proficiency testing with the College of American Pathologists Special Ligand Survey were surveyed about intraoperative PTH testing.


RESULTS
Of the 320 laboratories that responded to the survey, 92 performed intraoperative PTH testing. Testing practices were divided nearly equally among laboratories that performed intraoperative PTH testing for all parathyroidectomies (40%), most but not all cases (31%), and less than half of cases (30%). Testing frequency usually was low, with about two thirds of laboratories reporting 5 or fewer cases per month. A surprising finding was that, although intraoperative PTH testing originally became widely practiced as a point-of-care test, 71% of laboratories performed testing in a central laboratory, 6% in satellite laboratories, and only 23% in operating suites. A survey of methods showed that 33% used the manual QuiCk-Intraoperative test, 47% used the automated Immulite Turbo intact PTH assay, and 20% used other methods.


CONCLUSIONS
Intraoperative testing of intact PTH, although relatively new, has come into widespread practice during parathyroid surgery. Service delivery has evolved from a point-of-care model toward a central laboratory model, with this test serving as an illustrative example of factors that affect the balance between point-of-care and laboratory testing.
Hortin
Glen L
GL
Department of Laboratory Medicine at the Warren Magnusson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. ghortin@mail.cc.nih.gov
Carter
Alexis B
AB
D002170:Canada; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010279:Parathyroid Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery*; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D010338:Pathology, Clinical / Q000379:methods*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014481:United States
D010281:Parathyroid Hormone