The VCS parameters: Potential hematological indicators for predicting antituberculosis drug-induced neutropenia.
BACKGROUND
The morphological changes in activated neutrophils associated with antituberculosis drugs can be measured by volume, conductivity, and scatter (VCS) technology on the Coulter LH750 hematology analyzer. We conducted the current study to further validate the clinical usefulness of the neutrophil VCS parameters in predicting drug-induced neutropenia.


METHODS
Peripheral blood samples were collected from 52 patients with drug-induced neutropenia, 309 patients without any abnormal CBC, and 237 healthy controls. The mean neutrophil volume (MNV) with its distribution width (NDW) and the mean neutrophil scatter (MNS) were studied.


RESULTS
We observed a significant increase in the MNV and NDW as well as a significant decrease in the MNS in neutropenia patients approximately one week prior to development of neutropenia compared to healthy controls as well as to case controls. In addition, the delta MNV and delta MNS were respectively correlated well with delta absolute neutrophil counts when neutropenia occurred. The ROC curve analyses showed that the MNV、NDW and MNS had larger areas under curves compared to conventional parameters. With a cutoff of 150.15 for the MNV, a sensitivity of 84.4% and specificity of 75.7% were achieved prior to neutropenia.


CONCLUSIONS
The neutrophil VCS parameters may be clinically useful as potential hematological indicators for predicting antituberculosis drug-induced neutropenia.
Department of Laboratory, The Sixth People's Hospital of Nantong, Nantong, Jiangsu 226011, China.
Tian
T
Shen
Department of Laboratory, The Sixth People's Hospital of Nantong, Nantong, Jiangsu 226011, China.
Delin
D
Gu
Department of Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, China.
Yihua
Y
Zhu
Department of Tuberculosis, The Sixth People's Hospital of Nantong, Nantong, Jiangsu 226011, China.
Junwei
J
Shi
CBLPath, Inc., Rye Brook, NY, USA.
Dongsheng
D
Xu
Department of Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, China. Electronic address: ntcaoxh@163.com.
Xingjian
X
Cao
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063847:Mean Platelet Volume; D008875:Middle Aged; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced*; D055815:Young Adult
D000995:Antitubercular Agents
Antituberculosis drugs; Drug-induced neutropenia; Neutrophils; VCS parameters