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. 2023 Jan-Jun;17(1):63-68.
doi: 10.4103/ajts.AJTS_101_21. Epub 2022 Sep 28.

Comparative study of quality of leukoreduced packed red blood cell units as assessed by nageotte hemocytometry and flow cytometry

Mohd Anas Sheikh  1 , Amit Kumar Biswas  1 , Ajay Kumar Baranwal  1 , Neerja Kushwaha  2 , Santosh Karade  3 , Joseph Philip  4
Affiliations

Comparative study of quality of leukoreduced packed red blood cell units as assessed by nageotte hemocytometry and flow cytometry

Mohd Anas Sheikh et al. Asian J Transfus Sci. 2023 Jan-Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: Assessment of residual white blood cell (rWBC) count is vital to ascertain the quality of leukodepleted (LD) blood components. Automated cell analyzers lack the sensitivity for the assessment of very few leukocytes as found in LD blood components. Flow Cytometry (FC) based methods and Nageotte hemocytometer are the most commonly used techniques for this purpose. The objective of this study was to compare the use of Nageotte hemocytometer and FC for quality control of LD red blood cell units.

Materials and methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted in the Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion of a tertiary care center from September 2018 to September 2020. About 303 LD-packed red blood cell units were tested by FC and Nageotte hemocytometer for rWBCs.

Results: The number of rWBC (mean) detected by flow cytometer and Nageotte's hemocytometer was 1.06 ± 0.43 white blood cell (WBC)/μL and 0.67 ± 0.39 WBC/μL, respectively. Coefficient of variation was 58.37% by Nageotte hemocytometer method and 40.46% by FC. Linear regression analysis did not show any correlation (R2= 0.098, P = 0.001) whereas Pearson's correlation coefficient showed a weak relation (r = 0.31) between the two methods.

Conclusion: Flow cytometric technique provides a more precise and accurate objective tool compared to Nageotte hemocytometer which is labor intensive, time consuming, and prone to errors arising out of subjectivity along with reported underestimation bias. In the absence of adequate infrastructure, resources, and trained workforce, Nageotte hemocytometer method is a reliable alternative. Nageotte's chamber could be best used in the resource-constrained setup as it offers a relatively inexpensive, simple, and viable means to enumerate rWBCs.

Keywords: Alloimmunization; flow cytometry; leukodepletion; nageotte hemocytometer; quality control; residual white blood cell count.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Donor Demographics-Gender distribution and frequency distribution of donors
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter diagram of paired measurements of residual white blood cells (rWBCs) per μL as determined by Flow cytometry and Nageotte haemocytometry, for all 350 ml leucoreduced PRBC units (n=177)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scatter diagram of paired measurements of residual white blood cells (rWBCs) per μL as determined by Flow cytometry and Nageotte haemocytometry, for all 450 ml leucoreduced PRBC units (n=126)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Bland-Altman plot for measuring agreement between Nageotte hemocytometry and Flow cytometry
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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