About the Clinical Performance of the Sysmex XE-500 for Automated Cerebrospinal Fluid Cell Counts.

摘要

We read with interest the article by Sandhaus et al in the Journal, and we agree that the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cell count-an extremely important test for the diagnosis and follow-up of diseases of the CNS-can benefit from the introduction of automated analyzers. The reference method for cell counting is the manual cytometric chamber technique, although it is labor-intensive, shows important interobserver variability, and can produce errors. Automation of such measurements with a view to standardizing and simplifying these tests would be desirable. In any case, patient classification according to the CSF cell count is a generally accepted practice,2 and any changes in the reference ranges must be contrasted by many studies because the diagnostic and therapeutic decisions made on the basis of these counts are extremely important.