Study of Reporting Accuracy for Complete Blood Count with Auto-Verification Automated Hematology Analyzers

Abstract

The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine the relationship and consistency of blood cell integrity test with the CAL 6000 automatic hematology analyzer and the results of blood smear readings by medical technicians. The sample consisted of 500 blood samples of patients with normal test results in the automatic verification and reporting system. The blood smear was read with an automatic blood smear reader and the blood smear reading was confirmed by an expert medical technician. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, consistency percentages, and specificity percentages for neutrophil leukocytes, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils, as well as the size and shape of red blood cells and the number of platelets detected in the bloodstream, and correlation statistics by finding correlation coefficients. The results showed high correlation percentages for neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and platelets, with values of 0.86, 0.87, 0.82, and 0.88, respectively. The correlation percentages for monocytes and basophils were moderate, at 0.60 and 0.37, respectively. The percentage agreements for neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, and red blood cell size and shape were 100%, 100%, 97%, 100%, 99%, and 98.6%, respectively. The specificities for these parameters were 100%, 100%, 98%, 100%, 99%, and 98.6%, respectively. The percentage of consistency and specificity were greater than 95 percent, and the number of platelets was found to be different from -24% to 24%, within the acceptable threshold of 25%. The study indicates that the automated verification and reporting system in the hematology laboratory is accurate and reliable, with appropriate selection criteria that can reduce waiting time of reporting normal CBC results. Further research is recommended to study CBC in various diseases to improve the efficiency of hematology laboratories.