Improving Assessment of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors by Standardizing Manufacturers of Diagnostic Assays

Context To correctly diagnosis and manage coronary artery disease,physicians need accurate,reliable lipid and lipoprotein measurements.The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) recommended that these measurements be traceable to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reference methods. More than 100,000 clinical laboratories are in the United States, which makes direct standardization by CDC impractical.