Evaluation of 3 automatic systems for measurement of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate

PURPOSE: To evaluate three automated devices for measuring the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (VES-MATIC 60, Menarini(R); SEDISCAN Becton-Dickinson(R) y SEDIMATIC, Ral(R)) by comparison with the Westergren method (WM). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 1576 whole blood samples (VM: 694, SC: 316 and SM: 566) from patients of the Hospital Clinic i Provincial de Barcelona were included in this study. In all the specimens, the ESR was determined following the ICSH recommendations (WM). The Student's t test for paired data and linear regression analysis were used for inaccuracy study. Reproducibility was assessed after five measurements of three different samples and establishing the coefficient of variation (CV). RESULTS: Significant correlation was found between the systems studied and th WM. Moreover, for ESR > 21 mm/h (groups II, III and IV) the results provided by VM system were not significantly different from those of WM. Finally, all the systems presented a good reproducibility, although the lower values of CV were obtained with the VM method. CONCLUSIONS: The automatic systems for measurements of the ESR demonstrate important advantages and, from this analysis, we concluded that the VM could be the alternative method to conventional Westergren for the ESR determination.