title: Laboratory and clinical evaluation of white blood cell differential counts. Comparison of the Coulter VCS, Technicon H-1, and 800-cell manual method.
abstract: Eight hundred-cell manual white blood cell differential count evaluations of Coulter VCS and Technicon H-1 included estimates of accuracy, imprecision, random and systematic errors, clinical relevance, and detection of immature neutrophils. Accuracy was acceptable, except for H-1 testing of monocytes. Instrument imprecision was similar, except for tighter monocyte values as measured by the VCS. Deming regression determined random errors were greater for H-1 monocytes and proportional errors were similar. Constant errors for the VCS were less than the H-1 for neutrophils and monocytes and greater than the H-1 for eosinophils and lymphocytes. H-1 morphologic false-negative rates were twice those for VCS. True-positive and false-negative rates in cases with immature neutrophils were 70.6% and 20.3% for the VCS and 35% and 55.9% for the H-1. The reference false-positive rate was 4.4%. Clinically appropriate VCS flags were generated in distributionally abnormal cases. Predictive values were higher for the VCS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis.
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Swaim
mesh_terms: D002470:Cell Survival; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count / Q000379:methods*; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity