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Background@#Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) has emerged as an important nosocomial pathogen.The purpose of this study was to determine the effective methods for performing surveillance cultures of CRAB. @*Methods@#Nasal and rectal swabs were obtained concurrently from hospitalized intensive care unit patients colonized with CRAB. All the samples were inoculated in CHROMagar Acinetobacter medium with CR102 (CHROMagar), MacConkey agar medium supplemented with 5 µg/mL imipenem (MCA-IPM), and triptic soy broth medium supplemented with 5 µg/ mL imipenem (TSB-IPM). CRAB detection rates for each sample were compared. @*Results@#The CRAB detection rate in either one of the nasal or rectal swabs from the 37 patients tested were 89.2% (33/37) with the use of CHROMagar, 78.4% (29/37) with the use of MCA-IMP, and 86.5% (32/37) with the use of TSB-IMP. @*Conclusion@#We determined that concurrent use of both nasal and rectal swabs and CHROMagar could be an effective method for CRAB surveillance cultures.
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Background@#Two methods of counting cells in body fluids were compared;manual counting using a Neubauer chamber, and automated cell countingusing an XN-350 hematology analyzer. @*Methods@#Cells from 32 body fluid samples were counted by manualexamination and by an automated analyzer. Total cells (TC), white bloodcells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN),mononuclear leukocytes (MN), neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, andeosinophils were each counted by both methods. The results were comparedusing the Pearson correlation test, Bland-Altman regression analysis, andPassing-Bablok regression analysis. @*Results@#The two methods showed very strong correlation in TC, WBC,RBC, PMN, and MN counts, strong correlation in % neutrophils, and %lymphocytes, and weak correlation in % monocytes and % eosinophils.Using Bland-Altman regression analysis, the mean biases for TC, WBC, andRBC were -270, -257.4, and -1,256.09, respectively, and 0.15 for PMN andMN. Research parameters were compared as well: mean biases were -1.31,-2.46, -5.16, and -3.58 for % neutrophils, % monocytes, % lymphocytes,and % eosinophils, respectively. Passing-Bablok regression equationswere y=1.039x+20, y=1.037x+19, y=1.259x+0.0, y=0.983x+1.541, andy=0.983x+0.125 for TC, WBC, RBC, PMN, and MN, respectively. The equationswere y=0.955x+2.194 for % neutrophils, y=0.965x+1.184 for % monocytes,y=1.003x+0.161 for % lymphocytes, and y=x+0.75 for % eosinophils. @*Conclusions@#WBC differential count results performed by an automatedhematology analyzer generally show good correlation with our referencemethod, Neubauer chamber counting.
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BACKGROUND: Different age groups may have different reference intervals. However, the currently used reference interval for complete blood count (CBC) in clinical laboratories is based on results from healthy adults between 20 and 50 years of age. In this study, we aimed to establish reference intervals for 16 CBC parameters in Korean healthy elderly individuals. METHODS: A total of 3,359 healthy adults were selected from 4,253 adults (aged ≥20 years) who underwent regular health check-ups, based on a medical examination by interview. The reference intervals for CBC in two groups (aged <60 and ≥60 years), and the partitioning of reference intervals between the two age groups were established. RESULTS: Most CBC parameters showed no significant differences in reference intervals between the two age groups. Among the men, platelet distribution width (PDW) was the only parameter that required a separate reference interval between the two age groups. Among the women, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), red cell distribution width (RDW), and eosinophil % required separate reference intervals between the two age groups. CONCLUSIONS: The reference intervals for most CBC parameters were not significantly different between the two age groups. Except for PDW in men and MCV, MCHC, RDW, and eosinophil % in women, reference intervals for CBC parameters in individuals younger than 60 years of age could also be applied to those that are 60 years of age or older.