Evaluation of new haematology analyser, XN-31, for malaria detection in blood donors: A single-centre study from India.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Malaria continues to be a significant public health concern in India, with several regions experiencing endemicity and sporadic outbreaks. The prevalence of malaria in blood donors, in India, varies between 0.02% and 0.07%. Common techniques to screen for malaria, in blood donors and patients, include microscopic smear examination and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) based on antigen detection. The aim of this study was to evaluate a new fully automated analyser, XN-31, for malaria detection, as compared with current practice of using RDT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional analytical study was conducted to evaluate clinical sensitivity and specificity of new automated analyser XN-31 among blood donors' samples and clinical samples (patients with suspicion of malaria) from outpatient clinic collected over between July 2021 and October 2022. No additional sample was drawn from blood donor or patient. All blood donors and patients' samples were processed by malaria rapid diagnostic test, thick-smear microscopy (MIC) and the haematology analyser XN-31. Any donor blood unit incriminated for malaria was discarded. Laboratory diagnosis using MIC was considered the 'gold standard' in the present study. Clinical sensitivity and specificity of XN-31 were compared with the gold standard. RESULTS: Fife thousand and five donor samples and 82 diagnostic samples were evaluated. While the clinical sensitivity and specificity for donor samples were 100%, they were 72.7% and 100% for diagnostic samples. CONCLUSION: Automated haematology analysers represent a promising solution, as they can deliver speedy and sensitive donor malaria screening assessments. This method also has the potential to be used for pre-transfusion malaria screening along with haemoglobin estimation.

Applying newer parameter Ret-He (reticulocyte haemoglobin equivalent) to assess latent iron deficiency (LID) in blood donors-study at a tertiary care hospital in India.

BACKGROUND: It is important to detect Latent Iron Deficiency (LID) to prevent development of an overt iron deficiency anemia. Early detection is difficult by using conventional hematological and biochemical parameters. Soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) is presently the gold standard for diagnosing LID. We evaluated the utility of Reticulocyte Hemoglobin Equivalent (Ret-He), a newer hematological parameter, to predict LID in blood donors as compared to sTfR. METHODS: This was a randomized prospective study performed on 501 donor samples over a period of three-months. All donors were included after administering medical history questionnaire and a brief physical examination in accordance with national guidelines (Hb ≥12.5). Additional samples were collected during donation according to the institutional standard operating procedure (SOP). All hemograms were performed on the Sysmex XE-2100 analyzer which included Ret-He. sTfR was measured in batch assays by ELISA (Biovendor, Czech Republic). Ret He <28 pg and sTfR≥3µg/ml were used to diagnose LID. Serum Iron, Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) and Serum Ferritin were also measured simultaneously. RESULTS: Of the 501 blood donors, sTfR and Ret-He detected LID in 148 and 135 donors respectively. In comparison to sTfR, Ret-He had sensitivity of 92.7%, a specificity of 97.16%, PPV of 93.1% and NPV of 96.3%. Serum Ferritin, TIBC and serum Iron had comparatively lower sensitivity of 87.16%, 79.7% and 77.7% respectively. CONCLUSION: Ret-He can be used as a routine screening test to detect LID in blood donors. This could provide an opportunity to make appropriate and timely interventions like dietary changes or drug supplementation.

Rapid Detection of Plasmodium vivax by the Hematology Analyzer for Population Screening.

In India, where malaria is endemic, the prompt and accurate detection of infections is crucial for disease management and vector control. Our study aimed to evaluate the "iRBC" flag, a novel parameter developed for routine hematology analyzers, for its sensitivity and specificity in detecting Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) infections. We used residual blood samples from patients with suspected malaria and compared the iRBC flag results with microscopy, which serves as the gold standard. Additionally, we compared the results with rapid immuno-chromatographic tests (RDTs) commonly used in the field. Our study included 575 samples, of which 187 were positive for P. vivax. The iRBC flag demonstrated a high sensitivity of 88.7% and 86.1% on the XN and XN-L hematology analyzers, respectively, and a clinical specificity of 100% on both analyzers. Furthermore, the scattergram derived from each positive dataset exhibited distinct patterns, which facilitated rapid confirmation by laboratory specialists. Notably, the iRBC flag remained effective even in the presence of interfering conditions. Overall, our results indicate that the iRBC flag is a reliable and rapid screening tool for identifying P. vivax in routine blood testing. Our findings have significant implications for malaria detection and control in endemic regions like India.

Value of new advanced hematological parameters in early prediction of severity of COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 usually presents with upper respiratory tract infection in varying severity which can lead to sepsis. Early prediction of sepsis may reduce mortality by timely interventions. The intended purpose of this study was to determine whether the advanced parameters like the extended inflammation parameters (EIPs) can predict prognosis and early progression to sepsis as a sequel of COVID-19 infection and can be used as a screening profile. Also, to evaluate the Intensive Care Infection Score (ICIS) and the COVID-19 prognostic score and validate the scores for our population. METHODS: Prospective observational study of 50 reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) proven admitted COVID-19 patients. The data assessed included complete blood counts (CBC) with EIP measurements, from Day 1 of admission to Day 10. The following groups were studied: noncritical (NC) and critical illness (CI) in COVID-19 positive cases, COVID negative sepsis and nonsepsis cases, and healthy volunteers for reference range. RESULTS: The parameters that showed statistically significant higher mean in CI group compared to the NC group are reactive lymphocyte number and percentage (RE-LYMPH#, RE-LYMPH%), antibody synthesizing lymphocyte number and percentage (AS-LYMPH#, AS-LYMPH%), Reactive monocyte count and percentage (RE-MONO#, RE-MONO%/M), ICIS, COVID-19 prognostic score (p-value <0.05). The AUC confirmed the diagnostic accuracy of all these parameters. From the multivariate logistic regression, the significant risk factor was RE-LYMPH# with cut-off >0.10 (p value: 0.011). CONCLUSION: The new EIP parameters, RE-MONO#, RE-MONO%/M, ICIS score and COVID-19 prognostic score are useful for early prediction of critical illness. AS-LYMPH is the most useful predictor of critical illness on multivariate analysis. RE-MONO# and RE-MONO%/M parameter are useful in distinguishing critical and noncritical non-COVID and COVID-19 patients.

Spontaneously developing autoantibody to factor VIII in an elderly woman: diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.

An elderly woman with a continuously bleeding small wound was investigated for the presence of antibodies to FVIII using activated partial time-based screening and confirmatory tests. A late acting coagulation factor inhibitor was detected. The same was characterised to be a low titre antibody against FVIII (5.2 Bethesda units). Cryoprecipitate infusions, corticosteroids and topical desmopressin were unsuccessful in controlling the bleeding. Addition of cyclophosphamide brought about stoppage of bleeding and disappearance of the autoantibody.

Establishing biological reference intervals for novel platelet parameters (immature platelet fraction, high immature platelet fraction, platelet distribution width, platelet large cell ratio, platelet-X, plateletcrit, and platelet distribution width) and their correlations among each other.

AIMS: This study aims to establish biological reference interval for novel platelet parameters. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A total of 945 healthy individuals, age ranges from 18 to 64 years (881 males and 64 females) coming for voluntary blood donation from June to August 2012 (3 months) were enrolled after exclusion of rejection criteria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The samples were assayed by running in complete blood count + reticulocyte mode on the Sysmex XE-2100 hematology analyzer and the reference interval for the population was calculated using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Tests were performed using SPSS (Statistical Product and Service Solutions, developed by IBM corporation), version 13. Student t test and pearsons correlation analysis were also used. RESULTS: The normal range for various parameters was platelet count: 150-520 × 10(3)/cu mm, immature platelet fraction (IPF): 0.3-8.7%, platelet distribution width (PDW): 8.3-25.0 fL, mean platelet volume (MPV): 8.6-15.5 fL, plateletcrit (PCT): 0.15-0.62%, high immature platelet fraction (H-IPF): 0.1-2.7%, platelet large cell ratio (P-LCR): 11.9-66.9% and platelet-X (PLT-X) (ch): 11.0-22.0. Negative correlation was observed between platelet count (r = -0.468 to r = -0.531; P < 0.001) and PCT (r = -0.080 to r = -0.235; P < 0.05 to P < 0.001) with IPF, PDW, MPV, H-IPF, P-LCR, and platelet-X. IPF/H-IPF showed a positive correlation among them and also with PDW, MPV, P-LCR, platelet-X (r = +0.662 to r = +0.925; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These novel platelet parameters offer newer avenues in research and clinical use. Establishing biological reference interval for different platelet parameters would help determine true high and low values and help guide treatment decisions.