Evaluation of point-of-care testing in critically unwell patients: comparison with clinical laboratory analysers and applicability to patients with Ebolavirus infection

Summary: Data on the performance of point-of-care (POC) or near-patient devices in the management of critically unwell patients are limited, meaning that there are demands for confirming POC test results in the routine clinical laboratory and so potentially leading to delay in treatment provision. We evaluated the performance of the i-STAT CHEM 8+ and CG4+, Hemochron Signature Elite, HemoCue Hb 201+ and WBC Diff Systems on whole blood collected from medical and surgical patients admitted to the intensive care unit at an Australian tertiary care hospital. Measurements obtained for haematology, coagulation, biochemistry and arterial blood gas parameters using POC devices were compared against clinical laboratory analysers (XE-5000, STA-R Evolution, Dimension Vista 1500 and ABL800 FLEX). Bland–Altman and Passing–Bablok regression plots were constructed to assess agreement. Good correlation was defined as a bias of
Source: Pathology - Category: Pathology Tags: Special Theme Section: Laboratory Preparedness for Ebolavirus Disease: Guest Editor: Sharon C-A. Chen Source Type: research