Comparison and evaluation of three screening tests of hereditary spherocytosis in Chinese patients

The objective of this study is to compare and evaluate the diagnostic value of hereditary spherocytosis (HS) by three screening tests, comparing mean spherical corpuscular volume (MSCV) to mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and flow cytometric osmotic fragility test. Peripheral blood was collected from 237 participators diagnosed at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, including 56 hereditary spherocytosis patients, 86 thalassemia patients, and 95 healthy people. The samples were examined by three tests, and the three screening tests were evaluated by the sensitivity and specificity of tests. The sensitivity was only 41.07 %, and specificity was 94.47 % when using MCHC >355 g/L as diagnostic criteria. The sensitivity was 89.28 %, and specificity was 96.14 % when using MSCV < MCV as the optimum cutoff point. When using the residual red cell percentage <23.6 % as the diagnostic threshold in flow cytometric osmotic fragility test, the sensitivity was 85.71 % and the specificity was 97.24 %. Flow cytometry osmotic fragility test or comparing MSCV to MCV combined with smear examination of peripheral red blood cells morphology can be a simple, practical, and accurate hereditary spherocytosis (HS) laboratory screening method.