An international laboratory survey.

Lyopholized and liquid aliquots of human serum and blood were distributed in 1973 and 1974 to 50 international medical laboratories that took part in a pilot study sponsored by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the Commission on World Standards of the World Association of Societies of Pathology (COWS/WASP). The results were compared with data derived from more than 4,000 United States laboratories that received the same samples. Sodium, potassium, urea nitrogen, glucose, hemoglobin and hematocrit assays show a strikingg similarity in mean values when the World group (COWS/WASP) is compared with participants in the United States. The results suggest that laboratory testing in the international group follows the pattern seen in the United States. The study measures differences and similarities and the collected data serve as a springboard for discussion on international standards of laboratory testing.