Two Automated Hematology Analyzers Compared for Performance

A complete blood count (CBC) is a highly automated laboratory test. The use of highly advanced measurement methods increases the accuracy and sensitivity of the determination of individual hematological parameters, especially in the case of white blood cells differentiation.

It is important that the results of laboratory tests obtained using automated analyzers, which are currently able to perform more than 1,000 tests per day, are comparable, repeatable and reliable regardless of the analyzer used and the laboratory in which the analysis was performed.

Medical Laboratorians at the Medical University of Warsaw (Warsaw, Poland) collected 241 peripheral blood samples from adult patients. Samples of peripheral blood came from both healthy patients and those suffering from various pathologies. To perform comparative analysis of hematological parameters, complete blood count with leukocyte differentiation (CBC+ 5-DIFF) and a complete blood count (CBC) without leukocyte differentiation were used.

The complete blood count results were obtained using two automated hematology analyzers: the XN-2000 (Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan) and the Yumizen H2500 (Horiba, Kyoto, Japan). The XN-2000 uses the following methods of fluorescent flow to determine all tested hematological parameters: cytometry, impedance and optical cytometry. Impedance method to count red blood cells (RBC) and platelets, and has an optical measurement channel for reticulocytes in which platelet count can also be measured. The Yumizen H2500 is a quantitative, multi-parameter, automatic hematological analyzer. It uses the double hydrodynamic focusing method, which includes measurement of polychromatic light absorbance and the impedance method.

The scientists reported that reliable leukocyte differentiation results were obtained for blood samples in which the number of white blood cells perceived using an automatic hematological analyzer was within the detection limits for both analyzers. Statistically significant differences were found for four hematological parameters: eosinophil count, immature granulocytes, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and platelet distribution width (PDW).

The comparative study showed agreement between measurements of complete blood count parameters such as leukocyte count (WBC), red blood cell count (RBC), hemoglobin concentration (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (mean cell hemoglobin, MCH), red blood cell distribution width (RDW), platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), and plateletcrit (PCT).

The authors concluded that due to the existence of variability between the results obtained from different hematology analyzers, it is recommended that patient samples be analyzed in the same laboratory using the same analyzer, in order to avoid obtaining divergent results that could be misinterpreted. Incorrect interpretation may affect further clinical management and be a source of uncertainty. The study was published in the November, 2020 issue of the journal Practical Laboratory Medicine.

Related Links:
Medical University of Warsaw
Sysmex Corporation
Horiba