Evaluation of three methods for hemoglobin. Measurement in a blood donor setting

Context: The hemoglobin (HB) level is the most-used parameter for screening blood donors for the presence of anemia, one of the most-used methods for measuring Hb levels is based on photometric detection of cyanmetahemoglobin, as an alternative to this technology, Hemo Cue has developed a photometric method based on the determination of azide metahemoglobin. Objective: To evaluate the performance of three methods for hemoglobin (Hb) determination in a blood bank setting. Design: Prospective study utilizing samples to compare methods for Hb determination. Setting: Hemotherapy Service of the Hospital Israelita Albert Eistein, a private institution in the tertiary health care system. Samples: Seria blood samples were collected from 259 individuals during the period from March to June 1996. Main Measurements: Test performances and their comparisions were assessed by the analysis of coefficients of variation (CV), linear regression and mean differences. Results: The CV for the three methods were: Coulter 0.68 per cent, Cobas 0.82 per cent and Hemo Cue 0.69 per cent. There was no difference between the mean Hb determination for the three methods (p>0.05). The Coulter and Cobas methods showed the best agreement and the HemoCue method gave a lower Hb determination when compared to both the Coulter and Cobas methods. However, paris of methods involving the Hemo Cue seem to have narrower limits of agreement (+0.78 and + 1.02) than the Coulter and Cobas combination (+ 1.13). Conclusion: The three methods provide good agreement for hemoglobin determination.

Retrospective prevalence and incidence of drug-induced agranulocytosis in the city of São Paulo-Brasil

Retrospective study carried out in São Paulo, Brazil, from September 1981 through March 1990. During this period the study investigated 19,389 hematological patients, aiming to assess the prevalence and estimate the incidence of drug-induced agranulocytosis. To assess the Hematology Center's catch population, where the study took place, we adopted the incidence of hemophilia A, chronic myeloid leukemia and acute leukemia, described by the international literature as reference for our catch population estimate. Our findings revealed a prevalence of 1 case of agranulocytosis per 3,878 subjects treated at the São Paulo Hematology Center which translates into an incidence of 0.44 to 0.82 cases of agranulocytosis per million inhabitants, per year.

Obtençäo de concentrados de plaquetas com diminuiçäo da contaminaçäo por glóbulos vermelhos e brancos, através de processadoras de sangue por fluxo descontínuo: métodos comparativos / Platelet concentrates obtention with depleted contamination of red and white globules, by blood processors of discontinous flow: comparative methods

Faz-se um estudo comparativo de quatro procedimentos para obtençäo de concentrados plaquetários, apontando as vantagens e desvantagens de cada um deles. Foram efetuados oito procedimentos pelo método de interrupçäo precoce de coleta de plaquetas - Pink Stop; 12 pelo método bomba suplementar - Surge Pump; e 14 com o método de segunda centrifugaçäo - 2nd Spin, comparando-se com dez procedimentos praticados pelo método convencional, com o uso de uma processadora automática de sangue por fluxo descontínuo (Diddeco Progress). Foram descritas as técnicas de coleta, com suas características próprias, optando-se pelo método 2nd Spin, no qual o rendimento por coleta do concentrado de plaquetas foi o maior, com um número de plaquetas no concentrado de 4,92 ñ 2,45 x 10**11 e contaminaçäo mínima por leucócitos de 1,85 ñ 11,87 x 10**8 e número de hemácias de 0,51 ñ 0,30 x 10**9. Deduzimos que este método é o que consegue os melhores concentrados plaquetários, pelo alto rendimento e baixa contaminaçäo, possibilitando o tratamento de pacientes que necessitam de transfusöes repetidas, como ocorre nos transplantados de medula óssea, com menor índice de complicaçöes habituais a esse tipo de transfusäo