title: Agreement of manual cell counts and automated counts of the scil Vet abc Plus(+) hematology analyzer for analysis of equine synovial fluid.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the scil Vet abc Plus(+) (SCIL Animal Care Company, Altorf, France), an impedance hematology analyzer, can accurately quantify and differentiate nucleated blood cells (NBCs) in equine synovial fluid. Synovial fluid samples (n=242) in different stages of experimentally induced inflammation were analyzed with and without hyaluronidase pretreatment and compared to manual hemocytometer counts and smear reviews. No significant effect of hyaluronidase pretreatment was observed. Total nucleated cell counts of the scil Vet abc Plus(+) were significantly higher compared to the manual method (P=0.02), yet the difference was small and clinically irrelevant (ratio manual/automated count equal to 0.97 with 95% CI [0.95, 1.00]). Differential cell counts of the scil Vet abc Plus(+) were not accurate. In conclusion, the scil Vet abc Plus(+) hematology analyzer is highly accurate for quantification, but not accurate for differentiation of NBCs in equine synovial fluid.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Anaesthesiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Eline.VandeWater@UGent.be.
authors.forename: Eline
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van de Water
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Anaesthesiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oosterlinck
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Physiology and Biometrics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duchateau
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Anaesthesiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Frederik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pille
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D006405:Hematology / Q000379:methods*; D006736:Horses; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: Cell count; Horse; Inflammation; Joint; Leukocytes; Synovial fluid