title: The laboratory-clinician team: a professional call to action to improve communication and collaboration for optimal patient care in chromosomal microarray testing.
abstract: The International Standards for Cytogenomic Arrays (ISCA) Consortium is a worldwide collaborative effort dedicated to optimizing patient care by improving the quality of chromosomal microarray testing. The primary effort of the ISCA Consortium has been the development of a database of copy number variants (CNVs) identified during the course of clinical microarray testing. This database is a powerful resource for clinicians, laboratories, and researchers, and can be utilized for a variety of applications, such as facilitating standardized interpretations of certain CNVs across laboratories or providing phenotypic information for counseling purposes when published data is sparse. A recognized limitation to the clinical utility of this database, however, is the quality of clinical information available for each patient. Clinical genetic counselors are uniquely suited to facilitate the communication of this information to the laboratory by virtue of their existing clinical responsibilities, case management skills, and appreciation of the evolving nature of scientific knowledge. We intend to highlight the critical role that genetic counselors play in ensuring optimal patient care through contributing to the clinical utility of the ISCA Consortium's database, as well as the quality of individual patient microarray reports provided by contributing laboratories. Current tools, paper and electronic forms, created to maximize this collaboration are shared. In addition to making a professional commitment to providing complete clinical information, genetic counselors are invited to become ISCA members and to become involved in the discussions and initiatives within the Consortium.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55904, USA. wain.karen@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Wain
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Riggs
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.forename: Darlene
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Riethmaier
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muirhead
authors.forename: Elyse
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Bethanny Smith
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Packard
authors.forename: W Andrew
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Faucett
mesh_terms: D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D059232:Laboratory Personnel; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D005791:Patient Care; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010641:Phenotype