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Abstract

Can Immature Granulocyte Counting be Utilized in the Selection of Samples for Flow Cytometric Enumeration of Stem Cells? by Nurgul Ozcan, Hikmet Batgi, Eda Karaismailoglu, Ali Kilinc, Nuran A. Baysal

Background: This study aimed to compare the IMG counting by an auto hematology analyzer with the flow cytometric enumeration of CD34+ cells.
Methods: All data from 124 samples submitted to the hematology laboratory for CD34+ cell counting in 2019 and 2020 were retrospectively evaluated. Whole blood samples were taken into EDTA tubes and assayed within 2 hours. The numbers and percentages of WBC and IMG were determined by using Mindray BC6200 hematology analyzer, while the same were determined for CD45 and CD34+ cells by using Beckman Coulter Navios flow cytometer. The performance of the new method was determined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.
Results: Out of the 124 samples, 94 were collected from healthy individuals and 30 were collected from patients. A significant correlation was found between IMG and CD34+ cell counts in all patients (r = 0.71, p = 0.000) at the cutoff values of > 20/µL and > 50/µL. The Bland-Altman analysis of all patients showed that there was an agreement between the two methods. When the cutoff value of 20/µL for CD34+ cells was used in the ROC analysis, the sensitivity and specificity were calculated as 100 (96.1 - 100) and 96.77 (83.3 - 99.9), respectively, for the IMG count of > 900/µL.
Conclusions: An IMG count of 900/µL can be used as the cutoff value in the analysis with the Mindray BC6200. The IMG counting cannot replace the flow cytometric CD34+ cell enumeration but can be used in the selection of the samples for stem cell enumeration by flow cytometry.

DOI: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2024.240345