An international survey of laboratory physicians has shown that incorrect laboratory results in routine analyses can lead to serious or catastrophic damage to patients in most cases. The study, published in the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (DOI: 10.1515/cclm-2024-1477), represents the first global survey of how the scientific community assesses the risk of misreported laboratory values.

267 experts from 43 countries took part in the survey. They assessed the severity of possible damage from erroneous results on 20 common parameters such as troponin, potassium, glucose or sodium on a scale from negligible to catastrophic. The assessment was based on quality standards such as ISO 15189:2022 and CLSI EP23 and took into account worst-case scenarios.

For 19 of the 20 parameters examined, the participants rated the potential damage as at least “serious”. Potassium and troponin were considered catastrophic, iron as the only low-risk parameter. Not a single value was assessed as negligible. The majority of respondents saw a high potential for serious health consequences in mistakes.

The results are intended to help laboratories document risk management strategies in accordance with international standards and prioritize quality controls in a patient-oriented manner. They underline the need to align laboratory diagnostics even more strongly with the prevention of patient harm and could lead to adapted safety measures.

The study was conducted by researchers led by Lucas Peltier from the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Rennes in France, with the participation of colleagues from Belgium and the USA as well as employees from Bio-Rad Laboratories.

Original Paper:

Peltier, Lucas, Van Aelst, Sophie, Peeters, Bart, Raimbourg, Jean-Baptiste and Yundt-Pacheco, John. “Patient risk management in laboratory medicine: an international survey to assess the severity of harm associated with erroneous reported results” Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM), vol. 63, no. 8, 2025, pp. 1548-1554. https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2024-1477

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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