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Abstract
The diagnostic value of the standard glycerol lysis test (GLT) has been evaluated
by studying 95 cases of hereditary spherocytosis (HS), 513 β- and 25 α-thalassemia
trait (Th) carriers, 170 iron-deficient patients (ID), and 217 patients with miscellaneous
hematological conditions. The sensitivity of the test, at 95% specificity, was 97%
for β-Th, 53% for ID, and only 36% for HS, so that the predictive value of a positive
result is practically nil for HS, 50% to 85% for Th, and 10% to 35% for ID, depending
on the prevalence ratio of the disease in the examined population. The technical variability
of GLT, explored by a proper experimental design, was found to be rather high, its
main components being repeatability and variability of reagent preparations. The dependence
of the results on operators was negligible. It is concluded that GLT is not suitable
as a laboratory test for the detection of abnormalities in red cell osmotic fragility
because of its very low sensitivity toward increased fragility. For decreased red
cell osmotic fragility, the sensitivity of GLT is high; however, it is less valuable
than the traditional 0.35% NaCl method as mass screening test for the detection of
β-Th, giving more false positive results.
Abbreviations:
(GLT) (glycerol lysis test), (EDTA) (ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid), (PBS) (phosphate-buffered saline), (AGLT) (acidified glycerol lysis test)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
June 27,
1983
Received:
August 9,
1982
Identification
Copyright
© 1983 Published by Elsevier Inc.
