Simple Method to Estimate The Red Blood Cell ...

Simple Method to Estimate The Red Blood Cell Count From Peripheral Smear Examination.

Author Name : Romi Sleeba, Anagha Anil, Deepa Revi

ABSTRACT

The number of red blood cells (RBC) per cubic millimeter of blood is called RBC count, which is a vital subset of complete blood count performed in all hematology laboratories. RBC count can be estimated by both manual and automated methods, but is not usually assessed by direct examination of peripheral smear. The present study aims to assess the reliability of an alternative method of estimating RBC count from the peripheral blood smears itself, as done in the case of total WBC count and platelet count. The method involves counting the number of RBCs in a field and multiplying it with a constant factor.These results obtained were compared to the results given by a well calibrated auto-analyser Sysmex XT-2000i, frequently used in hematology laboratories. Total WBC count and platelet count were also calculated from both peripheral smear and compared with the results given by the automated analysers Sysmex XT-2000i. The average similarity between the results obtained from peripheral smear and automated analysers were 93%, 89.9% and 83.2% for RBC count, WBC count and platelet count respectively.  Statistical analysis using students t-test showed no significant difference between the results obtained from this method and automated hematology analysers. This technique, which provide a reliable way to roughly estimate the RBC count from the peripheral smears, in the absence of hemocytometer and auto-analyser, has the potential to be used as a supplementary method to confirm the results obtained from auto-analysers.

Keywords – RBC count, WBC count, platelet count, peripheral smear examination, automation, Sysmex XT-2000i