The adrenal vein sampling (AVS) service at Royal Prince Alfred hospital (RPAH) has developed over the past 19 years from a handful of tests yearly to a comprehensive service that continues to grow exponentially. From a few blood samples sent to the lab, it has developed into an experienced multidisciplinary team dedicated to providing excellence and more importantly successful cannulation and diagnosis.
Over three hundred and twenty AVS have been performed with an explosion in the past 5 years (even through the Covid-19 pandemic). The same nurse has been present for 98% of these and the experience gained has allowed others to also develop the skills required to perform successfully within the team and at other centres.
The need for the test is forever increasing with recent diagnostic guidelines for primary aldosteronism1 continuing to require the AVS as a part of best practice for the diagnosis pathways. Major AVS centres throughout Australia and New Zealand provide the majority of AVS services to the referring clinicians. A successful AVS not only requires correct cannulation but also best patient preparation, skilled AVS interventional radiology team, efficient and knowledgeable laboratory staff and experienced clinicians to manage the medical care and interpret results.
Coordinating from start to end the endocrine nurse at RPAH has supported patients to navigate through the workup, assisted interventionalist to correctly identify adrenal veins, has helped develop a dynamic testing protocol that minimizes risk of error and has created a unique reporting program that makes understanding the results clearer for clinicians and patients alike.
This presentation will describe the RPAH AVS service, its key achievements, identify problems faced and suggestions that may make the difference.