Evaluation of the HemoCue plasma haemoglobin analyser for assessing haemolysis in red cell concentrates during storage

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the HemoCue plasma haemoglobin (Hb) analyser for determining supernatant Hb in red cell concentrates (RCC) during storage and compare this to a spectrophotometric method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Samples from RCC (n = 20) at days 0, 7, 21, 35 and 42 of storage were tested by both methods for supernatant Hb. RESULTS: Results are given as median with range. There was a significant correlation (r = 0.97, P < 0.0001), but statistically significant difference between the two methods (0.72 (0.36-2.77) spectrophotometric vs. 0.70 (0.3-2.6) g/l HemoCue). However, the mean bias was negligible at 0.06 g/l. The HemoCue method gave a interassay coefficient of variation of 5.6% at 1.2 g/l and was linear to at least 20 g/l. CONCLUSION: The HemoCue plasma haemoglobin analyser is a simple, rapid, reliable and accurate method for the determination of supernatant Hb in RCC at the end of storage and compares well to established methods for supernatant Hb measurement.