title: Volume, conductivity, and scatter parameters as diagnostic aid to bacterial sepsis: A tertiary care experience.
abstract: INTRODUCTION AND MATERIALS AND METHODS: Early diagnosis of sepsis is extremely important to reduce high mortality and morbidity. In this study, clinical usefulness of the volume, conductivity and scatter parameters (mean channels of cell volume, conductivity, and light scatter) in neutrophils was analyzed for predicting acute bacterial infection, which are obtained by the Coulter LH 750 Hematology Analyzer (Beckman Coulter, Fullerton, CA, USA) during automated differential counts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Peripheral blood samples from 162 patients with positive blood cultures for bacteria and 40 healthy controls were studied. We observed a significant increase in the mean channel of neutrophil volume (MNV) from septic patients compared with control subjects (156 ± 13.5 vs. 143 ± 4.8; P < 001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An elevation of the MNV was associated with a higher white blood cell count and percentage of neutrophils and was present even in patients who did not have leukocytosis or neutrophilia. With a cut-off of 149 for the MNV, a specificity of 91.4% and sensitivity of 88.7% were achieved. As a quantitative, objective, and more sensitive parameter, we propose that the MNV has a potential to be an additional indicator for acute bacterial infection.
authors.forename: Abhishek H L
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Purohit
authors.forename: Praveen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Subhadra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Arti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kapil
authors.forename: Ayush
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Ashok K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mukhopadhyay
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D048429:Cell Size; D000067493:Dynamic Light Scattering; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000502:physiology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018805:Sepsis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D063128:Tertiary Health Care; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult