The nice people at Westgard sent their
update today. There was a lot of what I might flippantly call “blah blah
blah”, but one
article made me think.
Just what are the QC limits on our blood
counters? I naively thought they were the standard two standard deviations. It
would seem they might not be. It was claimed that some parameters have ranges
of up tp 10 SD; MCV, and MCHC were quoted.
I’ve always worked in places that use
the limits that the machine’s manufacturers give. Personally I haven’t a clue
just how wide these limits are though.
Apparently globally, only about 42.4% of
laboratories use such manufacturer-supplied control limits. 60% of labs
surveyed in China use their own limits
I suppose that justifying making our own
limits would be a regulatory minefield. CPA wouldn’t be at all keen. Mind you I
wonder if they are aware of this article.
I imagine those who make blood counters
will have something to say about it… and about this article too.
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