ABSTRACT
One hundred eighty-one bone marrow aspirates from 63 patients with acute leukemia were evaluated by the Technicon H1 automated differential counter and by microscopic examination for remission status after chemotherapy. Of the 163 marrows that were conclusive by microscopic examination, 130 were in remission (< 5% blast cells). This study focused on the following H1 alarms/flags to estimate their sensitivity for determination of remission: blast signal (BLSI), large unstained cells alarm (LUCA), baso blast alarm (BBLA), immature granulocytes (IGA) and atypia (ATYP). Basoblast alarm and BLSI revealed to be the most sensitive alarms (P < .0000 both), with 6 and 7 false-negative cases, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and efficiency were: 79%, 92%, 70%, 94%, and 89%, respectively for BLSI, and 82%, 90%, 68%, 95%, and 88%, respectively for BBLA. Blast signal and BBLA did not turn up in 67 hematologically normal bone marrows. In conclusion, the H1, the baso channel in particular, is a sensitive and specific tool for estimation of bone marrow remission status in acute leukemia.