Abstract

A basic role of the clinical chemistry is to provide qualitative and quantitative data on biological specimens obtained from patients and other subjects as an aid to the diagnosis, treatment and investigation of human disease. Such data require reliability and the regular provision of reliable data is acquired by close attention to quality control technigues and quality control procedures are now accepted as an important part of all clinical chemistry measurements. Quality Control results of individual laboratories and composite summary of the quality control values from a series of laboratories large enough to show a dispension of values from a variety of methods and instruments have been reported. Also interlaboratory comparison, external ,quality control procedure has been continued since the end of the 1960’s to compare the results of one laboratory with those of others by analyses of the same materials and, ideally, use of the same analytical methods. In this way, the success of internal quality control in one laboratory can be assessed. We have been analyzing the quality control sera over a long period of time for the assessment of variation of biochemical measurements in our laboratory and participating in International Quality Control Scheme, World Health Organization Programme for the Quality Control of Clinical Chemistry Assays for Clinical Trials of Fertility Regulating Agents, since February, 1977. It is the purpose of this report to present internal and external quality control values actually obtained in daily practice by Clinical Chemistry: Laboratory in the Institute of Reproductive Medicine and Population, College of Medicine, Seoul National University and to compare the results with those of others.