Quality assurance scheme in monitoring renal transplant patients

Quality assessment methodologies for cyclosporin (CYA) monitoring in renal transplant patients were evaluated with a view to identifying more appropriate methods for use in the Middle East, Gulf and North African countries. The quality assessment methods used were radioimmunoassays (RIAI(125) and RIAH(3)) and specific (SP) and non- specific (NSP) fluorescence polarization (TDxSP and TDxNSP). Results indicate that TDxSP was the most accurate quality assessment technique while TDxNSP was the least accurate. The drug CYA was also found to have a narrow therapeutic range. These results justify the need for standardization of quality assessment techniques for monitoring CYA in transplant patients.