Browsing by Author "Natukunda, Bernard"

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    Assessment of the diagnostic performance of TrueHb ® point-of-care hemometer compared with Sysmex i3 analyzer among patients at International Hospital Kampala, Uganda
    (Dove Press, 2019-04-01) Taremwa, Ivan Mugisha; Ndeze, Ivan; Mwambi, Bashir; Atuhairwe, Christine; Achieng, Diana Inda; Natukunda, Bernard
    Aim/Objective: To assess the diagnostic performance of TrueHb ® point-of-care (POC) hemometer compared with Sysmex i3 analyzer at International Hospital Kampala, Uganda. Materials and methods: We analyzed ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid blood samples to estimate hemoglobin (Hb) levels using parallel testing with TrueHb ® hemometer and Sysmex i3 analyzer. Data were analyzed to ascertain the diagnostic performance of the test assays using the Bland and Altman method. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were calculated. Results: The study enrolled 402 patients; of these, 156 (38.8%) were males. The average Hb levels were 8.7±1.8 and 13.3±2.6 g/dL for the anemic and nonanemic patients, respectively. One hundred and fifty-five participants were anemic, giving anemia prevalence of 38.56% (95% CI: 35.17–40.38). The mean difference of the TrueHb ® and Sysmex i3 assays was 2.2219 (SD 1.07915), and the two devices did not show a difference in their measurements (t=−2.407, p-value 0.017, 95% CI: −0.095–0.010). Further, they showed a significant level of agreement (t=41.281; 95% CI: 2.1161–2.3277) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC=0.793). The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 100.00%, 51.01%, 55.16% and 100.00%, respectively. The average performance turnaround time (TAT) for the TrueHb ® hemometer was 2.46 mins (95% CI: 2.37–2.55). Conclusion: TrueHb ® POC hemometer is an accurate POC for Hb estimation with a good performance agreement with the Sysmex i3 analyzer. This, coupled with its utility aspects, makes it a good diagnostic tool in a high anemia burden and low-resource setting.
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    The utility of ‘home-made’ reagent red blood cells for antibody screening during pre-transfusion compatibility testing in Uganda
    (African Health Sciences, 2021-08-02) Natukunda, Bernard; Wagubi, Robert; Taremwa, Ivan; Okongo, Benson; Mbalibulha, Yona; Teramura, Gayle; Delaney, Meghan
    Background: The WHO recommends that pre-transfusion testing should include ABO/RhD grouping followed by screen- ing for red blood cell (RBC) alloantibodies using the indirect antiglobulin test (IAT). However, in Uganda, current practice does not include RBC alloantibody screening. Objective: To assess the utility of ‘home-made’ reagent RBCs in alloantibody screening. Materials and methods: In a laboratory-based study, group O RhD positive volunteer donors were recruited and their extended phenotype performed for C, c, E, e, K, Fya, Fyb Jkb, S and s antigens. These ‘home-made’ reagent RBCs were preserved using Alsever’s solution and alloantibody detection tests performed. For quality assurance, repeat alloantibody screening of patients’ samples was done at Bloodworks Northwest Laboratory in Seattle, United States. Results: A total of 36 group O RhD positive individuals were recruited as reagent RBC donors (median age, 25 years; range, 21 – 58 years; male-to-female ratio, 1.6:1). Out of the 311 IATs performed, 32 (10.3%) were positive. Confirmatory IAT testing in the United States was in agreement with the findings in Uganda. Conclusion: Use of ‘home-made’ reagent RBCs during pre-transfusion testing in Uganda is feasible. We recommend the introduction of pre-transfusion IAT alloantibody screening in Uganda using ‘home-made’ reagent RBCs to improve trans- fusion safety.