What's New: February 2018

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

Here's what's new on Westgard Web this month, a special set of articles on hematology and QC.

Does Hematology hearken back to substandard QC?

Within the laboratory, biochemistry and hematology are often housed far apart from each other. But should their QC practices be distanced, too? Analyzing the hematology-specific results of our Global QC Survey, we find that while instrumentation has gotten more advanced, QC habits have not. There is a lot of room for improvement in the way hematology sections run controls.

Hematology: How often are they "out"?
 

Sysmex XN compared to Sysmex XE


A recent study compared two different generations of the same hematology analyzer, Sysmex XN and Sysmex XE.  We would expect there to be a good comparability of results between the analyzers. That's what we would expect...

When two generations of the same analyzer disagree, who do you say is wrong?
 

A correction: updated metrics on a 2016 analysis of Sysmex XN-2000

In 2016, we performed a Sigma-metric analysis of a 2016 paper on the performance of a Sysmex XN-2000. The authors contacted us this year to state they made mistakes in the original paper, and they have updated the analysis based on those corrections.

Corrected analysis of an updated paper on Sysmex XN-2000
 

Consolidated Comparison of Analytical Hematology Performance Specifications

CLIA, Rilibak, IQMH, RCPA 2010, "Ricos Goals" and Rilibak, and ESFEQA. They all specify targets for allowable analytical performance in hematology. How do these goals compare?

Is there a consensus on the allowable total error for hematology parameters?