Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How to diagnose regenerative anemia in cats using reticulocyte tests
By Paltrinieri, Saverio et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2018·1 Department of Veterinary Medicine, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Diagnostic performances of manual and automated reticulocyte parameters in anaemic cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of anemic cats underwent blood tests to determine whether their anemia was regenerative (meaning their body was producing new red blood cells) or non-regenerative. The study found that certain blood parameters, particularly the reticulocyte production index (RPI), were effective in distinguishing between the two types of anemia. The RPI showed the best results when specific cut-off values were used, indicating that it could accurately identify regenerative anemia in cats. This information can help veterinarians make better decisions about treatment for anemic cats.
People also search for: cat anemia symptoms · how to treat anemia in cats · reticulocyte count in cats
Abstract
Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performances of manual and instrumental measurement of reticulocyte percentage (Ret%), reticulocyte number (Ret#) and reticulocyte production index (RPI) to differentiate regenerative anaemia (RA) from non-regenerative anaemia (NRA) in cats. Methods Data from 106 blood samples from anaemic cats with manual counts (n = 74; 68 NRA, six RA) or instrumental counts of reticulocytes (n = 32; 25 NRA, seven RA) collected between 1995 and 2013 were retrospectively analysed. Sensitivity, specificity and positive likelihood ratio (LR+) were calculated using either cut-offs reported in the literature or cut-offs determined from receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results All the reticulocyte parameters were significantly higher in cats with RA than in cats with NRA. All the ROC curves were significantly different ( P <0.001) from the line of no discrimination, without significant differences between the three parameters. Using the cut-offs published in literature, the Ret% (cut-off: 0.5%) was sensitive (100%) but not specific (<75%), the RPI (cut-off: 1.0) was specific (>92%) but not sensitive (<15%), and the Ret# (cut-off: 50 × 10³/µl) had a sensitivity and specificity >80% and the highest LR+ (manual count: 14; instrumental count: 6). For all the parameters, sensitivity and specificity approached 100% using the cut-offs determined by the ROC curves. These cut-offs were higher than those reported in the literature for Ret% (manual: 1.70%; instrumental: 3.06%), lower for RPI (manual: 0.39; instrumental: 0.59) and variably different, depending on the method (manual: 41 × 10³/µl; instrumental: 57 × 10³/µl), for Ret#. Using these cut-offs, the RPI had the highest LR+ (manual: 22.7; instrumental: 12.5). Conclusions and relevance This study indicated that all the reticulocyte parameters may confirm regeneration when the pretest probability is high, while when this probability is moderate, RA should be identified using the RPI providing that cut-offs <1.0 are used.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29172918/