Red Blood Cells and Platelets Conventional and Research Parameters: Stability Remarks Before Their Interpretation

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the stability of red blood cells, platelets, and reticulocytes of the research parameters, in combination with the respective conventional parameters, for each analyte; and to quantify the morphological changes in these analytes, to propose a correction factor for each. METHODS: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) blood specimens from patients were reanalyzed in 2-hour intervals and then, the mean percentage (X¯t%) changes were calculated. To evaluate the stability of the analyzed material, we used different criteria according to within-run and between-batch analytical variation, as well as intraindividual biological variation. Next, the mean deviation percentage of the parameters that undergo time-dependent significant changes was calculated, to obtain a correction factor. RESULTS: Several conventional and research parameters showed significant alterations in the stability at an early time after arrival at the laboratory. CONCLUSION: Cell variations over time can be quantified and corrected by applying a multiplying factor to the signal obtained in the analyzer.