An evaluation of the Reflotron for the determination of plasma cholesterol in capillary blood. Effect of operator variability.

The availability of portable analysers potentially puts the detection of individuals with high serum cholesterol levels on a similar footing to that of high blood pressure. The Reflotron, which can make cholesterol measurements on capillary blood samples without the need for centrifugation, has been evaluated in clinical practice. In 94 consecutive patients capillary blood was used for the determination of serum cholesterol by the Reflotron, by a laboratory technician (n = 37) and by a nursing sister (n = 57). Venous blood was also taken from the same patients within a few minutes of the capillary sample for enzymic determination of serum cholesterol at the hospital laboratory. Overall, the Reflotron values were about 0.6 mmol/l lower than those obtained at the hospital laboratory. The accuracy and precision of the results obtained by the nurse were poorer than those obtained by the technician, even though the nurse had attended a three day training course. Our results indicate that the Reflotron is a suitable instrument for use in screening for serum cholesterol, provided personnel operating the machine have adequate training and experience, and provided it is borne in mind that the results obtained may be slightly lower than standard laboratory methods.