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Published on: June 11, 2012
IFCC recommendation on reporting results for blood glucose
Summary
Glucose molality is consistent in blood, but varying water content causes measurement discrepancies. Harmonizing glucose reporting to plasma concentration (mmol/l) is recommended for accurate diabetes diagnosis and treatment.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Chemistry
- Biomedical Engineering
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Glucose distribution between erythrocytes and plasma is governed by water concentration.
- Discrepancies in glucose measurements arise from differing water content in samples and devices.
- Current glucose measurement methods report diverse analytical quantities, impacting accuracy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address the need for global consensus in reporting glucose measurement results.
- To recommend a standardized unit for glucose concentration reporting.
- To simplify glucose determination for diabetes mellitus diagnosis and management.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of glucose distribution and molality across different sample types (erythrocytes, plasma).
- Evaluation of measurement differences caused by varying water concentrations and analytical quantities.
- Review of recommendations from the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry, Scientific Division, Working Group on Selective Electrodes (IFCC-SD WGSE).
Main Results:
- Differences in measured glucose concentrations exceed allowable error margins for diabetes care.
- A constant factor of 1.11 is proposed to convert whole blood glucose concentration to plasma equivalent.
- Harmonization to reporting glucose concentration in plasma (mmol/l) is recommended irrespective of sample type or technology.
Conclusions:
- Standardizing glucose reporting to plasma concentration is crucial for accurate clinical decisions.
- The proposed harmonization will improve consistency in diabetes diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
- Adoption of the plasma concentration unit (mmol/l) will enhance global comparability of glucose measurements.
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