BackgroundThe Westergren method is the golden standard for measuring erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). All ESR methods should agree with the standardized method of the International Council for Standardization in Hematology (ICSH). Citrate samples are commonly used for ESR. This extra sample adds costs and can be inconvenient for the patient. Therefore, some new automated ESR analyzers use EDTA samples, which are available for other hematology measurements.MethodsWe compared ESR measurements with StaRRsed Auto-Compact instrument to the ICSH standardized Westergren method in 200 patient samples.ResultsThe correlation between methods was fairly good (R2 = 0.72, y = 1.066x 0.24). However, with ESR results over 11 mm/h there were 55 subjects with a difference of over 30% between methods.ConclusionsThis may have led to different treatment suggestions in 25 cases according to age- and gender-dependent normal values. The difference may be caused by two different anticoagulants used, different measuring times and the correlation equation used. The StaRRsed ESR method should be in better agreement with the Westergren method, which is the golden standard. ESR results have notable impact on patient diagnosis and follow-up.KeywordsESR; Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; StaRRsed; Westergren method

Circulating oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) has been suggested to play an important role in atherosclerosis development. According to previous observations, oxLDL correlates with clinically manifest coronary and carotid artery disease. We investigated the association between the oxLDL concentration measured directly in plasma and common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in a population-based, case-control study in middle-aged men from Southern Finland. oxLDL was determined in 214 men by a commercially available sandwich ELISA test (Mercodia). Carotid artery IMT was measured at 12 standardized segments by B-mode ultrasonography (at the near and far wall of the left and right common carotid arteries, bifurcations and internal carotid arteries), and the overall mean maximum IMT (MMaxIMT) was calculated. The MMaxIMT of the carotid arteries was significantly associated with circulating oxLDL (r_s = 0.16, p = 0.018). In a stepwise multiple regression model with MMaxIMT as dependent variable and systolic blood pressure, smoking, oxLDL, HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B as covariates, systolic blood pressure (β = 0.22, p < 0.001), oxLDL (β = 0.15, p = 0.022) and smoking (β = 0.17, p = 0.014) showed an independent association with IMT (R² = 0.10, p < 0.001). Our results show that oxLDL measured directly from plasma is independently associated with subclinical carotid artery atherosclerosis in middle-aged men.