Evaluation of the Sysmex UF-100 automated urinalysis analyzer and comparative study with JCCLS reference method.

ABSTRACT

Microscopic urine sediment analysis has been accepted as the mainstay test for examining urine cells and particles. Although it provides essential information for clinicians about disease states in the patients, it is a high-volume and laborious procedure. Therefore, an automated analyzer was developed recently and has just been introduced to Thailand. In this study, the authors evaluated the analytical performance of this new automated urine analyze. Also a comparative study was performed between the UF-100 test results and those of JCCLS reference method. In evaluation of the Sysmex UF-100 automated urinalysis analyzer, both precision and linearity studies were performed. Between-run CVs for RBCs (mean = 182.46/microl), WBCs (mean = 193.37/microl), ECs (mean = 70.05/microl) and casts (mean = 12.21/microl) were 7.74 per cent, 5.52 per cent, 21.32 per cent and 7.69 per cent, respectively. Concerning the within-run CVs for the RBC analysis, the CV ranged from 16.28 per cent for low numbers of RBCs (35.67/microl) to 2.93 per cent at RBC concentrations (712.13/microl). Concerning within-run precision for the WBC analysis, the CV ranged from 22.31 per cent for low numbers of WBCs (WBCs 12.53/microl) to 2.07 per cent at a WBC count of 211.01/microl. Within-run precision ranged from 11.36 per cent at 24.99 ECs/microl to 6.18 per cent at 53.08 ECs/microl. Within-run precision for casts varied from 35 per cent for samples with 1.33 casts/microl to 12.38 per cent for samples with 4927.35 casts/microl. From the comparative study, good agreements (p < 0.05) were obtained between UF-100 and JCCLS reference method for RBCs counts (p = 0.000, r = 0.974) and WBCs counts (p = 0.000, r = 0.913). However, fair agreement (p > 0.05) was obtained between UF-100 and JCCLS reference method for ECs counts (p = 0.017, r = 0.212) and casts counts (p = 0.624, r = 0.044). In conclusion, the UF-100 analyzer is a new useful analyzer although it cannot be a substitute for microscopic sediment examination.