Il ruolo dei commenti interpretativi per l'armonizzazione e l'appropriatezza diagnostica in autoimmunologia

In Autoimmunology, interpretative comments can significantly improve the quality of information in laboratory reports. Laboratory autoimmunologists play an increasingly important role in supporting clinicians with the request and interpretation of tests, considering the growing complexity of autoimmune diagnostic and the increase in requests for autoimmune tests by non-specialist physicians. In 2024, the Study Group on Autoimmunology (GdS-AI) of the Italian Society of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (SIPMeL) in collaboration with the Study Group of Extra-Analytical Quality (GdS-QuEA) developed a project with the aim to define interpretative comments for systemic autoimmune diseases and organ-specific autoimmune diseases. Based on the analysis of the comments used by GdS-AI laboratories in routine practice, the working group drafted a summary document including no. 47 interpretative comments (22 for systemic autoimmune diseases and 25 for organ-specific autoimmune diseases), representative of possible findings in autoimmune laboratory reports. The document is intended as a proposal of interpretative comments to support laboratory reporting. Furthermore, it defines the important role of the laboratory autoimmunologist in improving the informational quality of reports, while promoting harmonization and appropriateness of test ordering.