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Verification of the Heska Element Point‐of‐Care blood gas instrument for use with venous blood from alpacas and llamas, with determination of reference intervals
Author(s) -
Viesselmann Lisa C.,
Videla Ricardo,
Flatland Bente
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
veterinary clinical pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.537
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1939-165X
pISSN - 0275-6382
DOI - 10.1111/vcp.12628
Subject(s) - anion gap , creatinine , potassium , sodium , zoology , chemistry , venous blood , repeatability , medicine , chromatography , biochemistry , acidosis , biology , organic chemistry
Background The Heska Element POC (“ EPOC ”) is a blood gas instrument intended for use with canine, feline, and equine whole blood; no verification for use with camelid specimens has been reported. Objectives Using camelid specimens and commercial quality control materials ( QCM ), we investigatee EPOC analytical performance and establish EPOC camelid reference intervals (RIs). Methods Camelid blood (n = 124) was analyzed using the EPOC ( pH , p CO 2 , p O 2 , HCO 3 , base excess, SO 2 , sodium, potassium, chloride, ionized calcium, TCO 2 , anion gap, HCT , HGB , glucose, lactate, and creatinine); plasma was analyzed using a Roche Cobas c501 (sodium, potassium, chloride, TCO 2 , anion gap, glucose, and creatinine). Method comparison data were assessed using Pearson's correlation, Passing‐Bablok regression, and Bland‐Altman plots. EPOC precision was evaluated using QCM and camelid blood. Results For all measurands except anion gap, the EPOC vs Cobas instrument correlation was r > .85. Except for p O 2 and p CO 2 , EPOC precision ( QCM and blood) ranged from a repeatability CV <1%‐6.3%. Mild constant bias for chloride, glucose, TCO 2 , anion gap, and creatinine, and mild proportional bias for chloride, glucose, and anion gap were present. The total error ( QCM data) for the EPOC instrument was below the ASVCP ‐recommended allowable total error. Alpacas had higher potassium and lactate, while llamas had higher creatinine, sodium, chloride, ionized calcium, p O 2 , and SO 2 . Statistical RI s based on alpaca (n = 74‐96) and llama data (n = 12‐17) are reported descriptively. Conclusions The EPOC analyzer shows good performance with camelid blood. A lack of complete agreement with automated chemistry analyzers highlights the importance of interpreting patient data using instrument‐specific RI s.