Abstract
The peripheral reticulocyte count is commonly used as an indicator of the erythropoietic activity of the bone marrow. Manual counting provides results with a high degree of inaccuracy and imprecision. Automation of counting is therefore needed. The increase in the number of methods available requires however that the results from the various methods agree with one another. The aim of our study was to evaluate the analytic performance of two automated hematology analyzers by a parallel study. We compared the analyzers between them and with manual counting. We enrolled in our study a total of 100 healthy subjects and an additional 80 patients affected by various hematological diseases. Difference between methods is statistically significant: the reference intervals of ADVIA2120 are higher than the Sysmex XE‐2100. The correlation between methods and correlation with the microscopic method are excellent and statistically significant. In conclusion, we can affirm that total automation of reticulocyte counts represents a definite improvement over microscopic counts. This study confirms the diversity of the reference intervals still exists in the new automated hematology analyzers. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 24:252–255, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Keywords: reticulocyte, flow cytometric count, erythropoiesis, reference intervals, blood disease
REFERENCES
- 1. Lesesve JF, Lacombe F, Bernard PH. Les reticulocytes. Rev Fr Lab 1993;52:57–63. [Google Scholar]
- 2. Lesesve JF, Lacombe F, Bernard PH, Belloc F, Boisseau MR, Reiffers J. Apport du compteur de reticulocytes Sysmex R‐100 pour le suivi de patients en aplasie post‐therapeutique. Rev Fr Lab 1993;252:65–69. [Google Scholar]
- 3. International Council for Standardisation in Hematology Expert Panel on Cytometry . Proposed reference method for reticulocyte counting based on the determination of the reticulocyte to red cell ratio. Clin Lab Haematol 1998;20:77–79. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4. Goguel A. omptage des reticulocytes sur frottis: Limite de confiance et utilization des resultats. Rev Fr Lab 1991;225:20–22. [Google Scholar]
- 5. Savage RA, Skoog DP, Rabinovitch A. Analytic inaccuracy and imprecision in reticulocyte counting: A preliminary report from the College of American Pathologists reticulocyte project. Blood Cells 1985;1:97–112. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6. Tanke HJ, Rothbarth PH, Vossen JMJJ, et al. Flow cytometry of reticulocytes applied to clinical hematology. Blood 1983;61:1091–1097. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 7. National Committee for Clinical laboratory Standards . Methods for reticulocyte counting: Proposed standards. Villanova PA: National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, 1985. NCCLS document H16‐P. [Google Scholar]
- 8. Davis BH, Bigelow NC. Flow cytometric reticulocyte quantification using thiazole orange provides clinically useful reticulocyte maturity index. Arch Pathol Lab Med 1989;113:684–689. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 9. Fergusson DJ, Lee SF, Gordon PA. Evaluation of reticulocyte counts by flow cytometry in a routine laboratory. Am J Hematol 1990;33:13–17. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 10. National Committee for Clinical laboratory Standards . Methods for reticulocyte counting (flow cytometry and supravital dyes); approved guidelines. Villanova PA: National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, 1997. NCCLS document H44‐A. [Google Scholar]
- 11. Buttarello M, Bulian P, De Pra' M , et al. Reticulocyte quantification by Coulter MAXM VCS (volume, conductivity, light scatter) technology. Clin Chem 1996;42:1930–1937. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 12. Buttarello M, Bulian P, Venudo A, et al. Laboratory evaluation of the Miles H3 automated reticulocyte counter: A comparative study with manual reference method and Sysmex R‐1000.Arch Pathos Lab Med 1995;119:1141–1148. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 13. Davis BH, Spier CM, Kachin J, et al. College of American Pathologists' reticulocyte proficiency testing program using surrogate blood: Insights into contemporary clinical practice. Lab Hematol 1997;3:84–91. [Google Scholar]
- 14. Buttarello M, Bulian P, Farina G, Temporin V, et al. Flow Cytometric reticulocyte counting. Parallel evaluation of five fully automated analyzers: An NCCLS‐ICSH approach. Am J Clin Pathol 2001;115:100–111. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 15. Davis BH. Immature reticulocyte fraction(IRF): By any name, a useful clinical parameter of erythropoietic activity. Lab Hematol 1996;2:2–8. [Google Scholar]
- 16. Brugnara C, Zurakawski D, Di Canzio J, et al. Reticulocyte hemoglobin content diagnose iron deficiency in children. J Am Med Assoc 1999;281:2225–2230. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 17. Rudensky B. Comparison of semi‐automated new Coulter methylene blue method with fluorescence flow cytometry in reticulocyte counting. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 1997;57:291–296. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 18. Lazarus HM, Chahine A, Lacerna K, et al. Kinetics of erythrogenesis after bone marrow transplantation. Am J Clin Pathol 1992;97:574–583. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]