Table 1.
Performance parameters for IG/TR clonality testing over time of the EQA participants combined
| EQA scheme year | Determination of correct result*** | Deadline for results submission (days) | Wet cases distributed | Paper-based cases provided | # registered participants | # participants who returned results | # countries | Average score on 5 points** | % participants with max score | % successful participants (score ≥4/5)* | % successful participants in 2 most recent schemes (score ≥9/10)* (N) | % correct results wet cases (N) | % correct results paper cases (N) | % total correct, results (N) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IG rearrangement testing | ||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Consensus | 23 | 0 | 5 | 63 | 62 | 15 | 4.90 | 90.3 | 100.0 | / | / | 98.1 (310) | 98.1 (310) |
| 2015 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 58 | 57 | 13 | 4.72 | 84.2 | 92.9 | 94.1 (51) | 93.6 (171) | 95.6 (114) | 95.6 (285) | |
| 2016 | Expert panel | 39 | 2 | 3 | 55 | 54 | 13 | 4.75 | 75.9 | 96.3 | 95.1 (41) | 88.9 (108) | 98.1 (162) | 94.4 (270) |
| 2017 | 69 | 3 | 2 | 48 | 48 | 12 | 4.98 | 97.9 | 100.0 | 97.4 (38) | 99.3 (144) | 100.0 (96) | 99.6 (240) | |
| 2018 | 88 | 2 | 3 | 55 | 55 | 15 | 4.87 | 89.1 | 98.2 | 100.0 (40) | 97.3 (110) | 97.6 (165) | 97.5 (275) | |
| TR rearrangement testing | ||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Consensus | 23 | 0 | 5 | 61 | 60 | 15 | 4.87 | 88.3 | 98.3 | / | / | 97.3 (300) | 97.3 (300) |
| 2015 | 30 | 2 | 3 | 57 | 56 | 13 | 4.82 | 82.1 | 100.0 | 97.9 (49) | 93.8 (112) | 98.2 (168) | 96.4 (280) | |
| 2016 | Expert panel | 39 | 3 | 2 | 52 | 51 | 13 | 4.55 | 33.3 | 90.2 | 89.7 (39) | 96.7 (153) | 66.7 (102) | 84.7 (255) |
| 2017 | 69 | 2 | 3 | 47 | 47 | 12 | 4.78 | 80.9 | 97.9 | 77.8 (36) | 98.9 (94) | 93.6 (141) | 95.7 (235) | |
| 2018 | 88 | 3 | 2 | 55 | 55 | 15 | 4.89 | 89.1 | 100.0 | 92.5 (40) | 97.6 (165) | 98.2 (110) | 97.8 (275) | |
EQA, external quality assessment; IG, immunoglobulin gene; N, number; TR, T-cell receptor gene
*Successful participation is defined as a score of ≥4/5. Successful participation after two participations is defined as a score of ≥ 9/10 for both schemes combined. The number of participants does not necessarily equal the number of participants who submitted results, given that not all laboratories participated during the previous EQA scheme and the performance over 2 EQA rounds was not calculated
**One paper case from 2015 was considered an educational sample to calculate the TR performance score; all participants received 1 point as no consensus outcome could be reached
***In 2016, 0.5 points were deducted in case there was a discrepancy between individual tubes and final conclusion or wrong identification of clonal peak for one specific case