Neutrophil cell population data: useful indicators for postsurgical bacterial infection

Area of Science:

• Hematology
• Clinical Pathology
• Medical Diagnostics

Background:

• Coulter LH750 analyzer measures white blood cell count (WBC) differentials and cell population data (CPD).
• Previous research linked elevated neutrophil CPD, mean neutrophil volume (MNV), and neutrophil volume distribution width (NDW) to bacterial infection.
• This study evaluated MNV/NDW for differentiating postoperative infections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the clinical utility of MNV and NDW in distinguishing postoperative bacterial infections.
• To compare the diagnostic performance of MNV/NDW with traditional WBC counts.

Main Methods:

• Analyzed cell population data from 212 controls, 135 non-infected, and 62 infected postsurgical patients.
• All patients had normal WBC and neutrophil percentages pre-surgery.
• Compared MNV and NDW values between groups before and after surgery.

Main Results:

• No significant pre-surgery differences in MNV/NDW were found between infected and non-infected groups.
• Post-surgery, infected patients showed significantly increased MNV and NDW compared to non-infected patients.
• While WBC and neutrophil percentages also rose post-surgery, they did not differ significantly between groups. MNV cutoff ≥152.4 and NDW cutoff ≥24.26 demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity.

Conclusions:

• Neutrophil CPD, MNV, and NDW are superior indicators for postoperative bacterial infection compared to WBC.
• Further prospective studies are warranted to explore the clinical usefulness of these parameters.