Abstract

Staging and monitoring of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) includes examination of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). At our institution, we noted an increased incidence of low-level leukemic blasts in CSF samples from patients with ALL. This increase coincided with a conversion from the Shandon CytoSpin 4 (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) to the Wescor Cytopro Rotor AC-060 (Wescor, Logan, UT). This study directly compared these 2 machines using patient samples and known concentrations of cultured leukemia cells. With patient samples, the Wescor Cytopro led to a 5- to 9-fold increase in the number of cells on a slide compared with the Shandon CytoSpin; furthermore, leukemic blasts were detected only with the Wescor Cytopro in 2 cases. Similar findings were observed using cultured leukemia cells. Thus, the detection of blasts in CSF is highly instrument-dependent. The newer, more sensitive cytocentrifuge machines identify blasts that were previously missed by older machines, but the clinical significance remains under investigation.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Huppmann AR, Rheingold SR, Bailey LC, Helfrich M, Choi JK

Institution

Department of Pathology, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Source

American journal of clinical pathology 137:5 2012 May pg 795-9

MeSH

Child
Humans
Leukocyte Count
Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22523219