Comparison of donkey hemogram using the LaserCyte hematology analyzer, an impedance system, and a manual method.

Background: Donkeys are becoming increasingly important worldwide; therefore a reliable and accurate method of diagnosing disease is necessary. Flow cytometry-based hematologic analyzers are present in veterinary laboratories, but performance of LaserCyte has not been evaluated in donkeys.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to compare the results of donkey blood obtained from the LaserCyte with impedance and manual methods.

Methods: Blood samples were collected from 84 healthy donkeys (1-20 years old) and measured with LaserCyte, Sysmex F-820 and manually. Agreement between methods was studied using Passing-Bablok test and Bland-Altman plots. Influence of blood abnormalities found on blood smears on LaserCyte counts was examined using Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis test. Intraassay precision was calculated.

Results: Hematologic variables obtained from the LaserCyte were significantly different from those obtained with impedance or manual methods; numerous values were flagged. Agreement between LaserCyte and manual method was poor for the majority of variables, but agreement between LaserCyte and impedance was only poor for HCT, MCH, and MCHC. LaserCyte had an intraassay precision < 10% for RBC and platelet variables, and > 10% for WBC variables.

Conclusions: LaserCyte results were not interchangeable with results from other methods due to poor agreement. LaserCyte provided no additional hematologic variables or clinically relevant indices for donkey blood analysis. A large number of results were flagged, requiring the evaluation of blood smears. No benefits were found for the use of LaserCyte analyzer over the use of impedance or manual methods in this study. Specific software for LaserCyte for donkey blood would be beneficial.