Evaluation of Sysmex SF-3000 performance concerning interpretive morphology flagging of the leucocyte differential count.

Results from the Sysmex SF-3000 automated haematology analyser are reported with special attention to leucocyte morphology flagging in pathological conditions. Results for leucocyte differential counts provided by the Sysmex SF-3000 were compared with those obtained from the Sysmex NE-8000 and a visual evaluation based on a differential count of 400 leucocytes. One hundred samples from apparently healthy subjects and 100 samples from patients with haematological abnormalities were examined. The SF-3000 yielded a rather high frequency of flagging inappropriately referring to blasts, immature granulocytes, left shift and nucleated red blood cells/platelet clumps. The presence of atypical lymphocytes was not indicated by appropriate flagging.