Effect of hematocrit, galactose and ascorbic acid on the blood glucose readings of three point-of-care glucometers.

Glucometers are commonly used in a variety of healthcare settings and use in critically ill patients should not be assumed without appropriate tool validation. The study objective was to evaluate the accuracy of three point-of-care glucometers (POCGs) to assess glucose concentration in human blood sample. The POCGs tested included three different instruments and utilized three factors (hematocrit [Hct], galactose and ascorbic acid) in glucose measurements to determine the glucometers' accuracy and compared to the reference laboratory biochemical analyzer (Cobs 8000, Roche, Basal, Switzerland). In this study, the Nova StatStrip glucometer showed no significant variation compared to the laboratory method at high glucose level with various Hct%. ACCU-Chek Inform II overestimated the glucose results at Hct 22% and underestimated at Hct 62%. The Freestyle glucometer showed lower glucose levels compared to the Cobas 8000 at Hct 62%. The ACCU-Check showed significant increase of blood glucose with low Hct% levels when compared to the laboratory method. The Freestyle showed a decreased level of glucose with high Hct 62% interference compared to the Cobas 8000. Galactose interference 100 and 200 mg/dL dramatically affected the accuracy of ACCU-Chek Inform II. Nevertheless, among all three POCGs in this study, the Nova StatStrip showed the most reliable and stable results for glucose level in the presence of interference. Especially, those in critical care units, whereas the Freestyle Precision Pro and ACCU-Chek Inform II were insufficiently accurate for critically ill patients.

Trisomy 11 as an isolated abnormality in acute myeloid leukemia is associated with unfavorable prognosis but not with an NPM1 or KIT mutation.

Trisomy 11 (+11) as an isolated abnormality is a rare event in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is associated with poor prognosis. We describe the clinicopathologic features of 18 AML patients with isolated +11 and their mutation status of NPM1, FLT3, NRAS ,KRAS, and KIT. Fourteen patients had de novo AML and 4 patients had a history of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Fifteen patients had a progressive clinical course with refractory or relapsed disease. The median overall survival was 5 months (range, 2 to 48 months). Only 1 patient achieved complete remission after undergoing stem cell transplantation. The bone marrow median blast count was 65% (range, 22 to 86) and 14 patients had blasts >50%. The most common type of AML was AML without maturation (7 patients) classified by the World Health Organization classification system, or M1 (10 patients) by the French-American-British (FAB) system. FLT3 mutations were detected in 3 of 15 (20%) cases tested. RAS mutation was present in 1 of 16 (6%) cases and there was no evidence of NPM1 of KIT mutations (each tested in 12 cases). Our findings confirm previous reports that isolated +11 is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with AML and tends to be associated with FAB-M1 morphologic features. No evidence of NPM1 or KIT mutations were identified.