TY - JOUR T1 - Quality control in diagnostic molecular pathology in the Netherlands; proficiency testing for patient identification in tissue samples JF - Journal of Clinical Pathology JO - J Clin Pathol SP - 717 LP - 720 DO - 10.1136/jcp.2003.011973 VL - 57 IS - 7 AU - F B J M Thunnissen AU - M G J Tilanus AU - M J L Ligtenberg AU - P M Nederlof AU - W N M Dinjens AU - E Meulemans AU - A J C Van den Brule AU - C J M van Noesel AU - W J F de Leeuw AU - E Schuuring Y1 - 2004/07/01 UR - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/57/7/717.abstract N2 - Aims: To describe the evolution of proficiency testing for molecular diagnostic pathology with respect to determining unambiguously the patient identity of tissue samples by microsatellite analysis. Method: Four rounds of quality control exchanges of samples from different patients were sent with the purpose of identifying the correct origin of these samples. The samples were either paraffin wax embedded sections on glass, sections in tubes, or isolated DNA. Blinded samples were distributed to all participating laboratories. No restrictions to the method and short tandem repeat markers used for identification were imposed. Results: In four subsequent rounds the number of participating laboratories increased from three to 10. The numbers of samples tested increased in time from five to 12. The microsatellite markers used by the different laboratories showed little overlap. In the first three rounds, in which isolated DNA was provided, all samples were accurately classified irrespective of the microsatellite markers used. In the last round, which also included paraffin wax embedded sections, a small number of laboratories experienced problems, either with amplification or incorrect classification of a few samples. Conclusion: Proficiency testing was useful, and showed country wide high quality and correct identification of (patient) samples with molecular techniques for diagnostic purposes. ER -