Valutazione multicentrica dell'analizzatore Tosoh G8 per la misura dell'emoglobina A2 e dell'emoglobina F

The analytical performance of the new Tosoh automated analyzer HLC-723 G8 (-thalassemia analysis mode) to determine hemoglobin variants and to measure HbA2 and HbF in human blood was evaluated in three Italian centres. The within- and between-run imprecision for HbA2 were good, with CV between 0.2% and 1.8% and between 0.9% and 5.4%, respectively. The CV for HbF was between 0.4% and 9.8% (within-run) and beetwen 0.8% and 13.1% (between-run). The comparability of HbA2 measurements between different centres was excellent (r=0.99), but a significant bias in comparison with the previous version of the instrument was noted. Experiments to test the HbA2 stability in blood confirmed that blood samples stored at -80 C were stable for at least 4 months and that storage at -20 C is not recommended. In conclusion, the Tosoh G8 analyser was found reliable and robust and, therefore, suitable for the measurement of HbA2 and HbF in human blood.