Evaluation of a manual technique for detection of neutropenia and thrombocytopenia in dogs receiving chemotherapy.

Objective—To determine accuracy of a manual technique for detection of neutropenia and thrombocytopenia in dogs receiving chemotherapy. Design—Masked prospective study. Animals—11 dogs treated with chemotherapy for neoplasia. Procedure—124 blood samples from dogs being treated with chemotherapy for various neoplasms were processed through an automated cell counter, and results were compared with those obtained by use of a rapid manual technique for estimating neutrophil and platelet concentrations to determine whether the manual technique could accurately detect dogs with neutropenia or thrombocytopenia. Results—By use of automated techniques, neutropenia (< 3,000 cells/µl) was detected in 17 of 124 blood samples, and thrombocytopenia (< 100,000 platelets/µl) was detected in 3 of 124 blood samples. The manual technique correctly identified 16 of 17 (94%) blood samples with neutropenia, with a specificity of 92% (98/107). The manual technique correctly identified 3 of 3 (100%) blood samples with thrombocyt...