Reporting clinical results

From: Lydene McArthur <Lydene.McArthur@cdhb.govt.nz>
Date: Thu Dec 14 2006 - 21:29:23 EST
Hi everyone

I would like to get some feedback about reporting clinical flow cytometry results for bone marrow samples.  Does everyone report the percentage of abnormal and normal cell populations present.	If so, what value do you use to express the result - do you report each population as a percentage of CD45 positive cells, or as a percentage of total nucleated cells in the sample.

My reason for asking - we have a bone marrow sample from a patient with erythroleukaemia.  The morphology differential shows 89% erythroid precursors and 4% blasts.  The flow cytometry results show 20% erythroblasts (bright CD71/glycophorin A) and a smaller number of myeloblasts.  The percentage of erythroblasts between the two techniques is markedly different.  I have tried to explain to our Haematologist this is most likely due to the red cell lysing technique used to prepare the sample which can result in selective loss of red cell precursors (we are using ammonium chloride).  But I don't know whether he believes me!!  

Does anyone else have experience with flow cytometry analysis of erythroleukaemia?.  How do you report the results when the erythroid cell percentages are so different between the two techniques. 

Many thanks and christmas cheers (hic!)

Lydene McArthur

Haematology Surface Markers
Canterbury Health Laboratories
Christchurch
New Zealand
Phone +64 3 3640 917


--
**********************************************************************
Check out our web site:
http://www.cdhb.govt.nz

This email and attachments have been scanned for content and viruses
and is believed to be clean
This email or attachments may contain confidential or legally
privileged information intended for the sole use of the addressee(s).
Any use, redistribution, disclosure, or reproduction of this message,
except as intended, is prohibited. If you received this email in error,
please notify the sender and remove all copies of the message,
including any attachments. Any views or opinions expressed in this
email (unless otherwise stated) may not represent those of Canterbury
District Health Board
**********************************************************************
Received on Fri Dec 15 12:58:00 2006

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Thu Dec 21 2006 - 03:12:07 EST