No abstract available.
Anemia ; Gaucher Disease* ; Humans ; Siblings* ; Thrombocytopenia

No abstract available.
DNA* ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin*

BACKGROUND: Automated systems are used widely for pre-transfusion tests in blood banks, in an attempt to reduce effort and human error. We evaluated the clinical performance of an automated blood bank system, ORTHO VISION (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Switzerland), for blood cross-matching. METHODS: Saline cross-matching was performed for 93 tests using 56 samples. Coombs cross-matching was performed for 400 tests using 166 samples. Saline cross-matching was compared for the automated ORTHO VISION and manual tube methods. Coombs cross-matching was compared for the automated ORTHO VISION and manual column agglutination technique (CAT) methods. The evaluation of 32 antibody-positive samples using the automated ORTHO VISION and manual CAT methods was compared by performing 97 cross-matching tests. Additionally, the ORTHO VISION efficiency and carryover were evaluated. RESULTS: The concordance rate of the saline cross-matching results between the manual method and automated ORTHO VISION was 100%. The concordance rate of coombs cross-matching results between manual CAT and automated ORTHO VISION was 97.9%. The concordance rate of cross-matching for antibody positive samples between manual CAT and the automated ORTHO VISION was 97.9%. Coombs cross-matching was efficient using ORTHO VISION, whereas saline cross-matching was efficient using the tube manual method. CONCLUSIONS: ORTHO VISION showed reliable results for cross-matching and was more efficient than manual CAT for coombs cross-matching. Thus, ORTHO VISION can be used for pre-transfusion tests in blood banks.
Agglutination ; Animals ; Automation ; Blood Banks ; Cats ; Humans ; Methods

BACKGROUND: Analysis of body fluids provides important information for assessing various medical conditions. We aimed to validate the analytical and diagnostic performance of the Sysmex UF-5000 (Sysmex, Japan) system for the analysis of different body fluids. METHODS: Eighty body fluid samples were analyzed using the UF-5000 system in the body fluid mode and light microscopy. Body fluids included ascitic, pleural, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), as well as other fluid samples. RESULTS: A comparison between the UF-5000 system and manual counting demonstrated good correlations with regard to red (r=0.6555) and white blood cell (r=0.9666) counts. The UF-5000 system also demonstrated good performance for differential cell counting (r=0.9028). CSF particularly showed a good correlation. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the UF-5000 system for cell counting and differential analysis of body fluid samples might be an effective and automated alternative to chamber counting in laboratory routine analysis, thereby enhancing laboratory workflow and clinical effectiveness.
Automation ; Body Fluids ; Cell Count ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Erythrocytes ; Leukocytes ; Methods ; Microscopy ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUND: The Rx Imola (Randox, UK) is newly released bench top - fully automated analyzer based on Window XP software with high-throughput (640 tests per hour with ISE) and continuous random access. We evaluated the performance of Rx Imola for the routine chemistry. METHODS: Repeatability (within-day precision), between-day precision, within-device precision, linearity, recovery rates and correlation were evaluated for 19 items including AST, ALT, ALP, GGT, total bilirubin, calcium, phosphorus, albumin, total protein, BUN, creatinine, glucose, amylase, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, LDH, CK and uric acid. Commercialized quality control materials and patient's sera were used. For correlation study, 747-100 (HITACHI, Japan) and VITROS 950 (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, USA) were used as comparative analyzers. RESULTS: Coefficients of variation (CVs) of all items in repeatability and between-day precision study were below 5%. The linearities were statistically acceptable (R2>0.99) for all items. The recovery rates ranged from 95.7 to 105.3%. The comparison study showed high correlation between Rx Imola and 747-100 or VITROS 950. Correlation coefficients of all items were above 0.99 except HDL and albumin. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed satisfactory results in precision, linearity, recovery rates and comparison studies of Rx Imola. It was expected to be useful for routine chemistry analysis and back up, because of high performance, easy handling and small size.
Amylases ; Bilirubin ; Calcium ; Chemistry* ; Cholesterol ; Creatinine ; Glucose ; Phosphorus ; Quality Control ; Statistics as Topic ; Triglycerides ; Uric Acid

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the indications, clinical features, cytogenetic results and complications of amniocentesis and to determine the efficacy of antenatal genetic amniocentesis. METHODS: We analyzed retrospectively maternal age, gestational age, indications, transplacental puncture, frequency, discoloration of amniotic fluid, karyotype and complications in 325 cases of prenatal genetic amniocentesis performed at Chungnam National University Hospital from January 2000 to December 2002. RESULTS: The most common age group was from 30 to 34 (31.4%) and mean age was 32.7 years old. 85.3% of cases were performed at 16th-20th gestational weeks. Abnormal maternal serum markers were the most common indication of amniocentesis (56.0%) and the second most common indication was maternal age over 35 (33.2%). Abnormal karyotypes were found in 12 cases (3.6%) and normal variants were 21 cases (6.5%). Numerical aberration were 9 cases (2.7%) and structural aberration were 3 cases (0.3%). Among the autosomal aberrations, Down syndromes were 5 cases and Edward syndrome was 1 case. Among the sex chromosomal aberrations, 47,XXX were 2 cases and Turner syndrome was 1 case. As the increasing maternal age, the incidence of abnormal karyotype was increased. Procedure-related complications occurred in 11.7% of cases and fetal loss rate was 7.4%. No significant associations were found between procedure-related complications and maternal age, gestational age, transplacental puncture, frequency, discoloration of amniotic fluid, and antibiotic treatment. CONCLUSION: Amniocentesis is useful for prenatal genetic diagnosis in pregnancies with increasing risk of chromosome aberrations, such as advanced maternal age, abnormal maternal serum markers or abnormal US findings. Further studies are necessary to identify risk factors of complications after invasive procedure.
Abnormal Karyotype ; Amniocentesis* ; Amniotic Fluid ; Biomarkers ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Cytogenetic Analysis* ; Cytogenetics* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Incidence ; Karyotype ; Maternal Age ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second* ; Punctures ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Turner Syndrome

BACKGROUND: For creatinine measurement, the enzymatic method is known to be more accurate than the Jaffe method; however, the latter is still widely used. We evaluated the performance of the CRE2 reagent (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., USA), which uses a modified Jaffe method. METHODS: Three quality control standards were used for precision evaluations of CRE2 on Dimension VISTA 500 instrument (Siemens). Moreover, the linearity and carryover characteristics were assessed. Sixty-eight creatinine results obtained using the CRE2 and ECREA (enzymatic) reagents (Siemens) were compared with those obtained using the L-CRE (enzymatic) reagent (Shinyang Diagnostics, Korea). The accuracy of CRE2, ECREA, and L-CRE was evaluated using a standard reference material. RESULTS: The CV of within-run (0.7–2.4%), between-run (0.4–1.7%), between-day precision (0.7–0.9%) for three standards, and total CV for medium (1.6%) and high levels (1.3%) satisfied the analytical goal. The linearity for CRE2 was excellent (R2=0.999). Comparisons of CRE2 and ECREA to L-CRE were well correlated (r=0.996 and 0.997, respectively). In comparison with L-CRE, 5 CRE2 results and 15 ECREA results exceeded minimum bias goal (5.1%) in samples with creatinine levels of >1 mg/dL. The carryover rate was −0.04%. In terms of accuracy, the percent bias values of CRE2, ECREA, and L-CRE were 7.4, −6.4, and −3.4, respectively, for low level; and 3.9, −1.5, and 0.7, respectively, for high level. CONCLUSIONS: For creatinine measurements, the CRE2 reagent showed good performance. It can be used in the diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and risk assessment of kidney diseases.
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Creatinine* ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diagnosis ; Indicators and Reagents ; Kidney Diseases ; Methods ; Quality Control ; Risk Assessment

BACKGROUND: The genes of metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL), a powerful carbapenemase, are carried as a part of the mobile gene cassettes inserted into integrons playing an important role in rapid dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes among bacterial isolates. In this study, we investigated carbapenemase genes and class 1 integrons integrated into the gene cassettes in imipenem-non susceptible P. aeruginosa. METHODS: From July 2006 to March 2008, 81 consecutive, non-duplicate, imipenem-non susceptible P. aeruginosa were isolated at Chungnam National University Hospital in Chungcheong province of Korea. The modified Hodge and double disk synergy tests were conducted for the screening of carbapenemase and MBL production, respectively, and PCR and DNA sequencing were performed for the detection of carbapenemase genes and class 1 integron gene cassettes. We also employed the repetitive element sequence-based (Rep)-PCR method for an epidemiologic study. RESULTS: MBLs were detected in 13.6% (11/81) of imipenem-non susceptible P. aeruginosa. Ten isolates were found to carry blaIMP-1, whereas 1 isolate was found to carry a blaVIM-2. All of the IMP-1-producing strains harbored 4.0 kb class 1 integron containing chloramphenicol, aminoglycoside, and beta-lactam- resistant genes. However, blaIMP-1 was not detected at class 1 integron. A 2.5 kb class 1 integron harboring blaVIM-2 was detected in a VIIM-2- producing strain. One identical pattern was observed in ten IMP-1 producing strains. CONCLUSION: IMP-1 producing P. aeruginosa strains are currently distributed throughout Chungcheong province of Korea. In particular, all of the strains harbored class 1 integrons containing variant antibiotic resistance gene cassettes.
Bacterial Proteins ; beta-Lactamases ; Chloramphenicol ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Integrons ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pseudomonas ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sprains and Strains

BACKGROUND: Despite the advances in total laboratory automation, a considerable amount of work in blood banks is still done using outdated manual methods. Some automated pre-transfusion testing instruments have recently been developed. Of these, we evaluated and compared the AutoVue Innova (Ortho, USA) and the Techno TwinStation (DiaMed AG, Switzerland). METHODS: Forward and reverse ABO/Rh typing and unexpected antibody screening and identification tests were performed on 4,628 samples using the manual method and the two automated instruments. Two different anticoagulants (EDTA and citrate) were compared in ABO/Rh typing and unexpected antibody screening tests. Titrating studies were conducted on the following 7 dilutions using 5 samples of irregular antibodies with anti-E, anti-E & -c, anti-D, and anti-Le(a) with anti-Fy(a): 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16, 1:32, 1:64, and 1:128. The test throughput per hour, the time required to perform 1 and 100 tests, and a simulation test for total events occurring in 1 day were also measured. RESULTS: No erroneous results were reported between the two instruments and the manual method. Discrepancies observed in 10 cases (0.4%) of ABO/Rh typing were of higher intensity with AutoVue Innova than with the manual method. AutoVue Innova exhibited the highest sensitivity in the titrating study and throughput performance compared with the manual method and the Techno TwinStation. Especially in the throughput and time required to complete 100 antibody screening tests, AutoVue Innova had a 3.3- and 3.5-fold higher performance, respectively, than Techno TwinStation. CONCLUSIONS: Because both of the two fully automated instruments (AutoVue Innova and Techno TwinStation) had high levels of accuracy and performance, it is expected that use of fully automated instruments will reduce human labor, turnaround time, and operator error in the blood bank.
ABO Blood-Group System/blood ; Antibodies/blood ; Automation ; Blood Grouping and Crossmatching/*instrumentation ; Blood Transfusion ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; False Positive Reactions ; Humans ; Rh-Hr Blood-Group System/blood

BACKGROUND: The recently issued Korean version of antimicrobial susceptibility cards for Vitek 2 system uses an adjusted antimicrobial combination that reflects Korean clinical practice and CLSI guidelines. We evaluated the two Korean antimicrobial susceptibility testing cards for gram negative rods, AST N056 and AST N055. METHODS: The results of susceptibility tests were compared between the original and Korean cards. A number of the same antimicrobials included in the both cards were 15 in AST N041-AST N056 and 17 in AST N022-AST N055. Susceptibilities to the newly added antimicrobials, aztreonam, tobramycin, and meropenem for AST N056; and cefotaxime, levofloxacin, and minocycline for AST N055 were compared with those obtained by disc diffusion test and, in case of discrepancy, by confirmative Etest or broth dilution method. RESULTS: In comparison between AST N041 and AST N056 cards, the average discrepancy rate per strain was 0.34, minor error was 88.2%, and major error and very major error were both 5.9%. In comparison between AST N022 and AST055 cards, the average discrepancy rate per strain and very major error were 1.23 and 4.4%, respectively. The three antimicrobial agents added into AST N055 card showed highly discrepant results as a total of 49 items (44.1%) in 111 isolates were discrepant with very major error of 5.9% and major error of 2.0%. CONCLUSION: AST N056 showed acceptable results in most items including the newly added antimicrobial agents. However, in the case of AST N055 card that showed a relatively high discrepancy, other indicator antibiotics should be referred to for newly added three antimicrobials. For the antibiotics that showed a high discrepancy between the original and Korean cards, a comparison study should be performed using the standard method and clinical isolates collected in Korea.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Aztreonam ; Cefotaxime ; Diffusion ; Enterobacteriaceae ; Korea ; Minocycline ; Ofloxacin ; Sprains and Strains ; Thienamycins ; Tobramycin