Digital Imaging of Peripheral Blood Smear With MC-80 as a Screening Tool for Thalassemia

Abstract

Background: Thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder, poses significant global health challenges, emphasizing the importance of accurate screening methods. Traditional diagnostic tools, such as osmotic fragility and dichlorophenolindophenol tests, along with blood indices, such as mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin, have limitations. Digital microscopy of peripheral blood smears is a promising alternative for objective quantification and standardization. Methods: Blood samples from 81 thalassemia screening-negative and 41 screening-positive individuals were analyzed using Mindray MC-80 Digital Morphology. Results: Pre-classification of red blood cell (RBC) morphology using Mindray MC-80 revealed significant differences between the screening-positive and screening-negative groups. Various RBC morphologies demonstrated statistically significant variance, including hypochromic cells, schistocytes, elliptocytes, target cells, teardrop cells (p < 0.001), and ovalocytes (p = 0.002). However, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of these parameters was < 0.8, indicating a limited discriminatory power. Conclusion: RBC morphology showed promise in detecting subtle changes associated with thalassemia. However, it may not be sufficient for accurate screening alone, highlighting the need for complementary diagnostic approaches.