title: Evaluation of a portable hemoglobinometer (HemoCue) to control anemia in hepatitis C liver transplant recipients undergoing antiviral therapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Monitoring of anemia, the most frequent side-effect of antiviral therapy in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected liver transplant recipients, requires frequent blood tests and medical visits.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The primary aim of this study was to assess the usefulness and the accuracy of a portable hemoglobinometer (HemoCue) in patients receiving antiviral therapy after liver transplantation due to severe hepatitis C recurrence in the graft. The secondary aim was to evaluate the usefulness of this device in terms of cost-saving and time-saving benefits.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multiple simultaneous hemoglobin measurements were obtained in venous blood by the reference method (ADVIA 120) and in capillary blood using HemoCue in 16 patients receiving antiviral therapy after liver transplantation. In addition, paired HemoCue measurements were taken to assess the reproducibility of this method, and correlation coefficients (CC) were calculated between them. Time requirements and cost of both procedures were recorded and compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HemoCue showed an excellent reproducibility (CC 0.92) and very high correlation with the standard method (CC 0.89). Its accuracy in detecting anemia (hemoglobin ≤10 mg/dl) was excellent as well (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve, 0.96). The application of HemoCue in this cohort of patients resulted in a significant reduction in the economical expense and labor (i.e., time) per patient during follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HemoCue is accurate and reproducible in measuring hemoglobin levels, and could be effectively used in this cohort of patients to control anemia during antiviral therapy. It could also help to reduce both overall costs and displacements, thereby improving the quality of life of these patients.
authors.affiliation: Liver Unit, Institut de Malalties Digestives i Metabòliques, Hospital Clinic, CIBERehd and IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain. zmarino@clinic.ub.es
authors.forename: Zoe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mariño
authors.forename: Jose Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Carrión
authors.forename: Josep Lluis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bedini
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Crespo
authors.forename: Stella Maris
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: José Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Tapias
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Forns
authors.forename: Miquel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Navasa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000740:Anemia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000191:economics; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006403:Hematologic Tests / Q000191:economics; D006452:Hemoglobinometry / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000191:economics; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation; D012008:Recurrence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D006454:Hemoglobins