부산대학교 도서관

ABSTRACTWe report the results from 57 Australian diagnostic laboratories testing two external quality assessment panels using either the Roche Amplicor Chlamydia trachomatistest (R-PCR) or the Abbott LCx Chlamydia trachomatisassay (A-ligase chain reaction [LCR]). Panel samples were either normal urine spiked with Chlamydia trachomatisantigen or clinical urine specimens. There was no significant difference between laboratories or between assays in detection of C. trachomatis-positive clinical samples. Only at the lower limit of detection of the assays did the R-PCR demonstrate increased sensitivity over the A-LCR in the detection of C. trachomatisantigen. However, it was found that single-sample testing could lead to decreased test sensitivity. Detection of the presence of inhibitors of nucleic acid amplification differed between laboratories.