RESUMO
UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND AND METHODS. The usefulness of hematological parameters provided by the Technicon H*1 was investigated for the diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) and for the identification of blast cells in peripheral blood samples. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: When automated blast detection was compared with microscopic examination in 62 samples with 4-98% morphologically recognizable lymphoblasts on peripheral blood smears, a false-negative result occurred in 28% (17/62) of the ALL cases. However, in 14 of these 17 false-negative cases the H*1 generated an output listing that would require microscopic evaluation in any event. The H*1 output listing interpretation (based on abnormal leukograms, blast flags and bicytopenia) led us to suspect the presence of ALL in 76% (47/62) of the cases. Three ANLL were recognized as ALL. In three out the 62 ALL, the H*1 output listing interpretation missed identify a leukemic process. In most cases (77%) we noted a characteristic deformation of the mononuclear population profile in the baso/lobularity display, and the cloud of analytical points was shifted toward to the left, in keeping with the presence of a large number of hypodense nuclei.
