R. Hofmannlehmann et al., EVALUATION OF THE QBC-VET AUTOREAD HEMATOLOGY SYSTEM FOR DOMESTIC ANDPET ANIMAL SPECIES, Comparative haematology international, 8(2), 1998, pp. 108-116
A comprehensive evaluation was initiated to determine the suitability
of the QBC-Vet Autoread haematology system for veterinary purposes in
domestic and pet animal species. The system determines haematocrit (HC
T), haemoglobin (HGB), white blood cell (WBC) count, granulocyte count
, combined lymphocyte and monocyte count (L/M), platelet count, as wel
l as eosinophil and neutrophil counts (canine samples only), and retic
ulocyte count (canine and feline samples only). Linearity assessed for
a canine sample usually surpassed the physiological range, Within-bat
ch precision was very good for the majority of the parameters iu felin
e and canine samples: Coefficients of variation (CV) were below 5.5% f
or HCT, HGB and WBC. In order to test the accuracy of the system with
respect to reference methods, a total of 300 blood samples from the Cl
inics of Internal Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (101 canine, 99 feli
ne and 100 equine) were analysed. Strong Linear correlation was demons
trated for HCT, HGB (r greater than or equal to 0.96) and WBC (r great
er than or equal to 0.93) based on high cell-elation coefficients and
narrow confidence intervals. A somewhat higher degree of variation fro
m the estimated regression lines was found in differential blood cell
counts, especially for eosinophil counts of the dog where the automate
d reader erroneously attributed some lymphocytes or monocytes to eosin
ophil counts. Accuracy of the system was also assessed with respect to
clinical relevance of results, The majority of leukocytosis (50 of 53
), neutrophilias (3 of 4), or eosinophilias (4 of 5) was detected prop
erly by the QBC-Vet Autoread haematology system, but only 20 out of 35
leukopenic samples were identified correctly. The system detected the
presence of reticulocytes in the majority of feline (9 of 10) and can
ine (6 of 7) samples with a regenerative anaemia. Unexpectedly, platel
ets of cats were measured with high within-batch precision (mean CV =
4.64%). No 'streaming' effect (no discrimination between erythrocytes
and granulocytes) was observed with this advanced QBC system. The syst
em was found to be easy both in handling and interpretation of results
. The buffy coat profile appeared particularly useful and informative.
In conclusion, the QBC-Vet Autoread-System has excellent analytical p
roperties and is well suited for veterinary purposes.