TY - JOUR
T1 - Measurement of blood serum cyclosporine levels using capillary 'fingerstick' sampling
T2 - A validation study
AU - Pettersen, Michael D.
AU - Driscoll, David J.
AU - Moyer, Thomas P.
AU - Dearani, Joseph A.
AU - McGregor, Christopher G.A.
PY - 1999/11
Y1 - 1999/11
N2 - Capillary blood sampling as a means of monitoring blood cyclosporine levels has replaced venipuncture in some medical centers. As the validity of capillary venipuncture for analysis of cyclosporine has not been documented, we sought to validate the capillary blood collection technique by comparing it with serum samples collected simultaneously by venous phlebotomy. Forty paired capillary- and venous samples were collected from 36 cardiac transplantation patients and analyzed, using a polyclonal immunoassay. The values obtained were compared using regression correlation. The correlation coefficient for all 40 samples was 0.859. However, we discovered that the first 7 capillary specimens were processed incorrectly. The correlation coefficient for the other 33 samples was 0.995 (99% confidence interval 0.987-0.998). The excellent correlation between serum samples obtained from capillary sampling and from venous sampling, together with the ease of obtaining capillary blood specimens, make 'fingerstick' sampling the method of choice for monitoring cyclosporine levels in infants and children.
AB - Capillary blood sampling as a means of monitoring blood cyclosporine levels has replaced venipuncture in some medical centers. As the validity of capillary venipuncture for analysis of cyclosporine has not been documented, we sought to validate the capillary blood collection technique by comparing it with serum samples collected simultaneously by venous phlebotomy. Forty paired capillary- and venous samples were collected from 36 cardiac transplantation patients and analyzed, using a polyclonal immunoassay. The values obtained were compared using regression correlation. The correlation coefficient for all 40 samples was 0.859. However, we discovered that the first 7 capillary specimens were processed incorrectly. The correlation coefficient for the other 33 samples was 0.995 (99% confidence interval 0.987-0.998). The excellent correlation between serum samples obtained from capillary sampling and from venous sampling, together with the ease of obtaining capillary blood specimens, make 'fingerstick' sampling the method of choice for monitoring cyclosporine levels in infants and children.
KW - Capillary 'fingerstick' sampling
KW - Cyclosporine measurement
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U2 - 10.1007/s001470050253
DO - 10.1007/s001470050253
M3 - Article
C2 - 10654354
AN - SCOPUS:0033460153
SN - 0934-0874
VL - 12
SP - 429
EP - 432
JO - Transplant International
JF - Transplant International
IS - 6
ER -