Evaluation and Establishment of Reference Range of Automated Urine Cell Analyzer UF-100 / 임상검사와정도관리

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The automated urine cell analyzer UF-100 (Syxmex co., Japan), flow cytometer-based instrument, has enabled to perform rapid and efficient work. We evaluated the UF-100 by comparing performance in urine sediment testing with counting chamber, standardized method, and traditional manual microscopy widely used in laboratories, and established reference ranges in our hospital. METHODS: Urine samples were obtained from patients in their 20s to 60s who visited hospital for regular check-up between March and April 2007 at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital. We selected randomly a total of 261 samples (male 130, female 131) and evaluated correlations of red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) counts of UF-100 with counting chamber, and manual microscopy. Moreover, we established reference ranges of UF-100 and counting chamber according to CLSI guideline, using 156 urine samples (male 93, female 63) with normal dipstick (strip) test results. RESULTS: The RBC correlation coefficients between UF-100 and counting chamber, UF-100 and manual microscopy, counting chamber and manual microscopy were 0.538, 0.873, and 0.619, respectively. The WBC correlation coefficients between UF-100 and counting chamber, UF-100 and manual microscopy, counting chamber and manual microscopy were 0.992, 0.902, and 0.893, respectively and showed good correlations. The results of UF-100 were higher than counting chamber and manual microscopy. The RBC reference ranges of UF-100 nd counting chamber were 0.5-24.9/microliter (male 0.4-12.2/microliter, female 0.9-38.8/microliter) and 0-4/microliter (male 0-4/microliter, female 0-5/microliter), and the WBC reference ranges of those were 0.9-21.8/microliter (male 0.8-12.6/microliter, female 2.0-23.4/microliter) and 0-7/microliter (male 0-7/microliter, female 0-9/microliter). CONCLUSIONS: The fully automated analyzer UF-100 could be useful to enhance efficiency by labor-saving, turnaround time reduction and improving throughput and to enable standardization. But it is needed for further study including clinical evaluation, because the results and reference ranges between UF-100 and counting chamber or manual microscopy showed considerable differences.