Laboratory testing in clinical immunology 2. State of the art in Alps-Adria Working Community (AAWC)

A survey on laboratory clinical immunology (for AAWC 1990) is presented. From a reply of 64 clinical immunology sites to our questionnaire, these conclusions could be drawn: laboratory immunological testing is performed predominantly in health care institutions, by medical doctors and technicians. It is most frequently used in hematology, nephrology, pediatrics and allergology/hypersensitivity, predominantly for diagnosis. Less than a half of the laboratories have their own controls (mainly healthy volunteers). Responders expressed the need for institutions authorized to control the quality of the tests performed. Humoral immunity was more often tested than cellular immunity. Assesssment of cellular immunity included primarily phenotypization and lymphocyte functions, whereas testing of phagocytosis is infrequent. Half of the responders were dissatisfied with immunological testing in their region.