Clinical laboratory science : journal of the American Society for Medical Technology
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Comparative Study
Comparison of two platelet count estimation methodologies for peripheral blood smears.
To compare two manual methods for estimating platelet counts from Wright's stained peripheral blood smears regarding their correlation with each other and with automated platelet counts. This correlation was examined in relation to whether the platelet count was high, low, or normal and in relation to whether the hemoglobin value was low versus normal or high. ⋯ Though the alternate platelet count estimation method has been recommended for use particularly with patients with low hemoglobin values, this study found that the traditional estimation method provided more agreement with automated counts than did the alternate estimation method for all samples as well as for the subset of samples with low hemoglobin values. For the present, the traditional method of estimating platelet counts from blood smears to evaluate automated results appears to provide adequate quality assurance.