Within-subject and between-subject biological variation estimates of 21 hematological parameters in 30 healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND: The complete blood count (CBC) is used to evaluate health status in the contexts of various clinical situations such as anemia, infection, inflammation, trauma, malignancies, etc. To ensure safe clinical application of the CBC, reliable biological variation (BV) data are required. The study aim was to define the BVs of CBC parameters employing a strict protocol. METHODS: Blood samples, drawn from 30 healthy subjects (17 females, 13 males) once weekly for 10 weeks, were analyzed using a Sysmex XN 3000 instrument. The data were assessed for normality, trends, outliers and variance homogeneity prior to coefficient of variation (CV)-analysis of variance (ANOVA). Sex-stratified within-subject (CVI) and between-subjects (CVG) BV estimates were determined for 21 CBC parameters. RESULTS: For leukocyte parameters, with the exception of lymphocytes and basophils, significant differences were found between female/male CVI estimates. The mean values of all erythrocyte-, reticulocyte- and platelet parameters differed significantly between the sexes, except for mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular volume and platelet numbers. Most CVI and CVG estimates appear to be lower than those previously published. CONCLUSIONS: Our study, based on a rigorous protocol, provides updated and more stringent BV estimates for CBC parameters. Sex stratification of data is necessary when exploring the significance of changes in consecutive results and when setting analytical performance specifications.

Operative and long-term oncological outcomes in patients undergoing robotic versus laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to compare short- and long-term outcomes after robotic versus laparoscopic approach in patients undergoing curative surgery for rectal cancer. METHODS: Patients undergoing elective robotic and laparoscopic resection for rectal cancer were included. Perioperative clinical characteristics, postoperative short- and long-term outcomes were compared between groups. RESULTS: There were 72 and 44 patients in robotic (RG) and laparoscopic (LG) groups respectively. No differences were detected regarding patients' demographics, histopathologic outcomes, conversion rates and 30-day overall postoperative complication rates. Operative time was longer in the RG (341 ± 111.7 vs. 263 ± 97.5 min, p = 0.001) and length of stay was longer in the LG (4.4 ± 1.9 vs. 6.4 ± 2.9 days, p = 0.001). The 5-year overall and disease-free survival rates were similar (97.1% and 94.9%, p = 0.78; 86.2% and 82.7%, p = 0.72) between the groups. CONCLUSION: This study showed both short and long-term outcomes of a limited number of included patients between the robotic and laparoscopic surgery were similar. However, future studies and randomized trials are necessary to establish these findings.