title: The performance characteristics of an expert system for the "on-line" assessment of thalassemia trait and iron deficiency--Micro Hema Screen.
abstract: An Expert System (ES) approach to the assessment of thalassemia trait and iron deficiency was evaluated by transferring data from a Coulter S-Plus II Analyzer to an Apple II e computer. The discriminant rules of the algorithm were derived retrospectively from multivariate analysis of an existing data base. The parameters used were MCV, RDW, HGB, RBC, MPV, and PLT. Subsequently, the system has been evaluated for its ability to detect thalassemia and hemoglobinophathies in 1671 females and 1490 males in a real laboratory setting. The 845 cases of microcytosis among them were used to estimate the real frequencies of the diagnostic groups as identified by the ES (Micro Hema Screen). "On-Line" assessment of microcytosis may provide a quick method of acquiring and processing the data from an automated analyser. It can be applied in thalassemia and iron deficiency discrimination either as an intralaboratory primary assessment or as a population screening method.
authors.affiliation: 251 Hellenic Airforce and VA Hospital, Laboratory of Haematology, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Paterakis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Terzoglou
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vasilioy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000747:Anemia, Hypochromic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005103:Expert Systems; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009862:Online Systems; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics