Background It is still not easy to predict severity promptly in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and transient ischemic attack (TIA). We investigated that platelet parameters or combinations of them could be a useful tool for early prediction of severity of AIS and TIA at admission and after 3 months. Methods We prospectively recruited 104 patients newly diagnosed with AIS and TIA. We investigated their neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet parameters. According to the Modified Rankin Scale scores, the patients were divided into two groups. Results In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses, mean platelet volume (MPV), NLR/platelet count (PLT), MPV/PLT, MPV*NLR, and MPV*NLR/PLT showed statistically significant results in both at admission and after 3 months. Values of area under ROC curves for those tests at admission were 0.646, 0.697, 0.664, 0.708, and 0.722, respectively. Also, values after 3 months were 0.591, 0.661, 0.638, 0.662, and 0.689, respectively. Conclusion MPV*NLR/PLT could be used as a relatively good tool for predicting severity at the time of admission and after 3 months than other parameters or combinations of them. Further studies have to be carried out to investigate the best parameter for predicting the severity of AIS and TIA.

Introduction:Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are known to be induced by various factors. In this study, we tried to identify circulating levels of NETs in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and to confirm its suitability as a new circulating marker in their detection. Methods:We prospectively enrolled 95 patients with a diagnosis of ACS (N = 37) or AIS (N = 58) in Dong-A University Hospital, Busan, Korea. The control group was selected from healthy adults (N = 25) who visited the hospital for health screening.Circulating levels of NETs were evaluated by measuring plasma concentrations of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and DNA-histone complex. Results:The concentrations of dsDNA were statistically higher in patients with ACS or AIS than those in the control group (both P < .001). In the univariable and multivariable analyses, statistically significant risk factors were troponin I (TnI) level and dsDNA concentration in the ACS group (P = .046 and P = .015, respectively) and only dsDNA concentration in the AIS group (P = .002). In the receiver operating characteristic curve analyses, the area under the curve values for TnI level and dsDNA concentration in the ACS group were 0.878 and 0.968, respectively, and the value for dsDNA concentration in the AIS group was 0.859.

Introduction Abbott Alinity hq is a next‐generation automated hematology analyzer providing complete blood count (CBC) with 6‐part white blood cells (WBC) differential counts. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the analyzer to verify the diagnostic and clinical utility of the Abbott Alinity hq automated system. Methods We evaluated specimen stability, precision, linearity, carry‐over, and method comparison to assess the performance of Alinity hq. For comparison of the Alinity hq with Sysmex XN‐9000, totally 314 samples from adult and pediatric patients including both normal and abnormal hematology profiles were analyzed in parallel. The Alinity hq was also compared with the manual differential counts for the same 314 samples. Results At 4°C, the Alinity hq analyzer showed no significant changes in CBC and WBC differential count up to 48 hours. When stored at room temperature (18‐25°C), all parameters except the mean platelet volume (MPV) were stable up to 36 hours. The Abbott Alinity hq analyzer demonstrated excellent reproducibility and between‐batch precision for all CBC and WBC differential parameters. WBC, red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), and platelets showed good linearity and acceptable carry‐over. Comparison with a Sysmex XN‐9000 analyzer and manual 400‐cell differential showed excellent correlation for CBC and WBC differential count parameters (correlation coefficient = 0.815‐0.999) except for mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and basophils. Conclusion We performed initial validation studies and confirmed performance specifications on specimen stability, precision, linearity, carry‐over, and method comparison. The Abbott Alinity hq analyzer showed good analytical performance for all standard CBC parameters.

Among hematologic diseases, structural abnormalities of autosomal chromosomes are well-known, but cases involving the sex chromosomes are uncommon. Duplications of the long arm of chromosome 1 have been reported in several hematologic diseases including myelodysplastic syndrome, myeloproliferative neoplasms, acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and Burkitt lymphoma. However, dup(1q) as a der(Y) t(Y;1)(q12;q12) is very rare. Here, we report a case of essential thrombocythemia harboring der(Y)t(Y;1)(q12;q12) with literature review.

The diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is essentially based on the detection of circulating antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). Reading and interpretation of aPL profiles may be challenging and results of aPL should be interpreted in view of clinical context. The international diagnostic criteria of APS were developed and revised by international experts and societies, publishing international consensus guidelines on the recommended best practices for technical and performance requirements. Despite these attempts to produce consensus guidelines, some issues related to laboratory testing still remain unresolved. In this review, we want to give an overview of laboratory testing for APS with summary of recent international consensus guidelines for the detection of aPL. Also a brief review of prognostic significance of aPL profile and potential future diagnostic assay is presented.