Comparación de parámetros hematológicos y morfología celular en muestras de sangre con EDTA K2 y EDTA K3 / Comparison of hematological parameters and cellular morphology in blood samples with EDTA K2 and EDTA K3

El EDTA es el anticoagulante de elección en los laboratorios de hematología para la conservación de la muestra de sangre total. Existen dos tipos, EDTA K2 y EDTA K3, y su diferencia radica en la cantidad de moléculas de potasio. Algunas guías sugieren que hay diferencias entre el anticoagulante EDTA K2 y el K3 para el proceso del hemograma; sin embargo, con las nuevas presentaciones de los tubos que traen las casas comerciales, no se tiene claro si en realidad aún hay diferencia entre los dos anticoagulantes, y si esto puede alterar el resultado del hemograma, tanto en el resultado cuantitativo, como en el cualitativo. Objetivo. Comparar los recuentos leucocitarios, la hemoglobina, el hematocrito, el volumen corpuscular medio, las plaquetas y la morfología celular en muestras de sangre periférica con EDTA K2 y EDTA K3, en diferentes tiempos (0, 1 y 2 horas). Materiales y métodos. Se realizó un estudio cuasi-experimental, multivariado, multifactorial, que tiene como unidad de análisis la sangre anticoagulada con EDTA K2 y EDTA K3, extraída de 53 individuos a través de un muestreo no probabilístico por conveniencia. Resultados. Al comparar los resultados del estudio morfológico por medio del extendido de sangre periférica y los datos cuantitativos del hemograma, se encontró que no hay diferencias estadísticamente significativas usando EDTA K2 o K3. Conclusión. Se evidenció que el uso del EDTA K2 o EDTA K3 como anticoagulante de elección, procesando las muestras en un tiempo adecuado después de su recolección, no afecta los parámetros cuantitativos del hemograma automatizado ni los morfológicos.

EDTA is the anticoagulant of choice in hematology laboratories for the conservation of whole blood samples. There are two types, K2 EDTA and K3 EDTA, and their difference lies in the amount of potassium molecules. Some guidelines suggest that there are differences between K2 and K3 EDTA for the blood analysis process. However, with the new collection tubes offered by the commercial suppliers, it is not clear if in fact there is a difference between the two anticoagulants that would result in changes in blood parameters and cell morphology. Objective. To compare leukocyte counts, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, platelets and cell morphology in peripheral blood samples collected with K2 EDTA and K3 EDTA, at different times (0, 1 and 2 hours). Materials and methods. A quasi-experimental, multivariate, multifactorial study was carried out, with anticoagulated blood as the unit of analysis, either with K2 EDTA or K3 EDTA, extracted from 53 subjects through a non-probabilistic sampling for convenience. Results. There was no statistically significant difference when comparing results of the peripheral blood smear and the quantitative hematological parameters using K2 or K3 EDTA. Conclusion. The use of either K2 EDTA or K3 EDTA as the anticoagulant of choice, when processing samples within a suitable time after their collection, proved equally satisfactory for both quantitative and morphological parameters

The role of platelet indices in ischemic heart disease: a hospital based case control type of study

Background: In developing countries, Ischemic heart diseases (IHD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. The underlying pathology of CAD is atherosclerosis. When this atherosclerotic plaque ruptures, platelets play a crucial role in the prothrombotic events and forms a thrombus on this plaque and as a result coronary artery gets occluded causing ischemia and infarction. Platelet contains many chemokines, cytokines and growth factors. Release of these factors along with interaction with endothelial cells and leukocytes promotes inflammation and progression of atherosclerosis. We aimed to investigate the association between platelet volume indices in patients with diagnosis of Ischemic heart disease in comparison with control group.Methods: By using automated cell counter platelet count and platelet volume indices - were compared with Normal healthy or non-cardiac chest pain patients with the use of unpaired t test.Results: In the present study, we demonstrated that platelet count is significantly low and MPV and PDW are significantly high in Ischemic heart disease as compared to patients with noncardiac chest pain or healthy subjects. The correlation of MPV with PC revealed an inverse correlation between the patients of IHD and healthy or non-cardiac chest pain patients which is statistically significant.Conclusions: The platelet volume indices are an important, simple, effortless and a cost-effective tool useful in predicting the development of an acute coronary event sometimes in the near future and therapeutic modification for improved patient’s cardiovascular care.