Performance of Abbott Alinity hq hematology analyzer for automated cell counting of body fluids.

INTRODUCTION: Body fluid cell counting and differentiation provide essential information for diagnosis and monitoring of diverse pathologies. We evaluated the performance of the newly launched Abbott Alinity hq hematology analyzer for automated cell counting in body fluids and compared red blood cell (RBC) and total nucleated cell (TNC) counts with the Cell-Dyn Sapphire automated hematology analyzer. Differential counts were compared with microscopic differentiation on cytocentrifuged preparations. METHODS: Background concentration limits, limit of detection (LOD), linearity, imprecision, functional sensitivity and carryover were evaluated. For method comparison, we collected 172 body fluids (17 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis fluids, 56 cerebrospinal fluids and 99 serous fluids). RESULTS: Background concentration limits were ≤1000 cells/µL for RBC counts and ≤3 cells/µL for TNC counts. The LOD was 1000 RBC/µL and 5 TNC/µL. Results from linear regression analysis revealed excellent linearity. Functional sensitivity was 3000 cells/µL for RBC counts and 50 cells/µL for TNC counts. Carryover was 0.6% and 0.1% for TNC and RBC, respectively. The Alinity hq shows good clinical performance. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated comparable performance for body fluid cell counting between the Alinity hq analyzer and the Cell-Dyn Sapphire. The Alinity hq can be very useful as a screening tool for body fluid cell counting.

Performance evaluation of the prototype Abbott Alinity hq hematology analyzer.

INTRODUCTION: The analytical and clinical performance as well as the workflow efficiency of the novel, prototype Alinity hq hematology analyzer was evaluated in the clinical laboratory of Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Department of Hematology, Brussels, Belgium. METHODS: Within-run and within-laboratory imprecision, linearity, and carryover were assessed using clinical blood samples and commercial blood products. Four hundred and seventeen samples were selected for method comparison with Abbott CELL-DYN Sapphire, and for flagging performance analysis in comparison with smear review and manual microscopic white blood cell (WBC) differential. RESULTS: Within-run and within-laboratory imprecision verification demonstrated low %CV for complete blood count and WBC differential results within the normal ranges (0.1%-10.4%), except for basophil granulocytes. The linearity of the analytical measuring ranges was verified for WBCs, red blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets. Alinity hq results showed strong agreement with those of CELL-DYN Sapphire. Good correlation was demonstrated with manual WBC differential results, with negative bias for neutrophil (NEU) granulocytes, and positive bias for lymphocytes and monocytes. Blasts were detected with 75% sensitivity and 96% specificity at 1% blast threshold, and 100% sensitivity at 5% blast threshold. Immature granulocyte detection was more sensitive (81% vs 76%, P = 0.086) and specific (88% vs 78%, P = 0.0002) than with CELL-DYN Sapphire. Nucleated red blood cell detection was more sensitive (89% vs 63%, P < 0.001) and just slightly less specific (96% vs 99%, P = 0.0067) than with CELL-DYN Sapphire. Re-run and reflex testing rates were lower with Alinity hq. CONCLUSION: The Alinity hq hematology analyzer is suitable for clinical use.