Lipid Interference Flagging and Haemoglobin Correction in Lipemic Samples With a Hematology Analyzer

Area of Science:

• Clinical Chemistry
• Hematology

Background:

• Lipemia, a condition of high lipid levels, can interfere with accurate hemoglobin (HGB) measurements.
• Reliable HGB levels are crucial for diagnosing anemia and polycythemia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a system for flagging lipid interference and correcting HGB values.
• To assess the accuracy of optical hemoglobin (HGB-O) measurements in lipemic samples.

Main Methods:

• Lipemic samples were simulated and collected from patients.
• Plasma exchange was used to establish reference HGB values.
• A "Lipid Particles?" flag was developed based on blood parameters and scattergram analysis.

Main Results:

• The "Lipid Particles?" flag demonstrated high sensitivity (92.59%) and specificity (97.60%) in identifying lipid interference.
• Optical HGB (HGB-O) showed excellent correlation (r=0.935) with reference values in lipid-interfered samples.
• The flag correctly identified 27 out of 152 lipemic samples with interference.

Conclusions:

• The "Lipid Particles?" flag is clinically valuable for detecting lipid interference.
• HGB-O measurements are accurate and reliable even in the presence of lipid interference.