Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 14, 2026
Simultaneous Assessment of Kinship, Division Number, and Phenotype via Flow Cytometry for Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells
Published on: March 24, 2023
Process to evaluate hematological parameters that reflex to manual differential cell counts in a pediatric
Jeannette Guarner1, Maria Ana Atuan, Barbara Nix
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. jguarne@emory.edu
Background:
Each institution sets specific parameters obtained by automated hematology analyzers to trigger manual counts. We designed a process to decrease the number of manual differential cell counts without impacting patient care.
Methods:
We selected new criteria that prompt manual counts and studied the impact these changes had in 2 days of work and in samples of patients with newly diagnosed leukemia, sickle cell disease, and presence of left shift.
Results:
By using fewer parameters and expanding our ranges we decreased the number of manual counts by 20%. The parameters that prompted manual counts most frequently were the presence of blast flags and nucleated red blood cells, 2 parameters that were not changed. The parameters that accounted for a decrease in the number of manual counts were the white blood cell count and large unstained cells. Eight of 32 patients with newly diagnosed leukemia did not show blast flags; however, other parameters triggered manual counts. In 47 patients with sickle cell disease, nucleated red cells and red cell variability prompted manual review. Bands were observed in 18% of the specimens and 4% would not have been counted manually with the new criteria, for the latter the mean band count was 2.6%.
Conclusions:
The process we followed to evaluate hematological parameters that reflex to manual differential cell counts increased efficiency without compromising patient care in our hospital system.
