Comparison between automated bone marrow aspirate smears analyzer (Vision Hema® 8Pro) and standard manual microscopic bone marrow examination in diagnosing acute myeloid leukemia and classification of myelodysplastic syndrome
Abstract:
Background: Analysis of bone marrow aspirate (BMA) smear by an experienced hematologist or pathologist remains the gold standard for diagnosis and evaluation of many hematologic disorders. Nevertheless, it is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and required well-trained hematologists/pathologists. We aimed to evaluate the performance of an automated BMA smear analyzer in the differential diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Methods: BMA smears from King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital archives were analyzed twice ; first using an automated analyzer, Vision Hema® 8Pro, and followed by an experienced hematologist using the standard microscopic examination. The primary outcome was to identify the concordance between an automated BMA smear analyzer and standard manual microscopic examination in diagnosis of AML and classification of MDS. The secondary outcomes were to compare blast counts and differential cell proportions by the two methods. Results: One hundred thirty-one BMA smear specimens including 31 normal bone marrow, 33 low-blast count MDS, 33 MDS-excess blasts, and 34 AML were analyzed. The automated analyzer showed a moderate degree of agreement with standard microscopy (Cohens kappa = 0.50, p-value < 0.001) and a strong correlation between the automatic and manual examination for blast counts (r=0.71, p<0.001). Conclusion: This pilot study demonstrated that the digital microscope, Vision Hema® 8Pro, requires more extensive training for diagnosis of AML and classification of MDS. Further development of the BMA smear analytic system is crucial.