Diagnostic allergy laboratory external proficiency testing in Europe

As with all diagnostic laboratory testing, some form of external proficiency testing is required both for the laboratory undertaking the testing and for the safety of the requesting clinician and his patient. Allergen Specific immunoglobulin E antibody testing in serum can produce different results depending on the method. Originally External Quality Assessment schemes in Europe were run on a National basis but 5 years ago a cooperation scheme was adopted whereby each National scheme adopted common serum pools for distribution, common distribution dates, and a common report format. The EUROEQAS circulates a common report to each of the participants throughout Europe. This article describes the organization of such a scheme and the results produced over the past 12 months.