Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate Reference Intervals Determined via VES-MATIC 5 and CUBE 30 Touch with Respect to the Westergren Method

<b>Objectives</b>: The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is a diagnostic test that is employed worldwide to assess a patient's inflammatory status. Like all laboratory tests, it requires reference intervals (RIs) to support clinical decision making and facilitate accurate diagnosis. In this study, we aimed to generate RIs for the automatic analyzers VES-MATIC 5 (VM5) and CUBE 30 touch (C30T) compared to the gold standard method. <b>Methods</b>: A total of 989 (presumably healthy) participants from Arezzo Hospital in Italy were enrolled. The ESR RIs were established according to CLSI for all three methods. <b>Results</b>: The analysis pointed out significant differences between women and men and age-related increases in ESRs obtained via all three analytical methods. The average and median values resulting from VM5 and C30T were, respectively, 1 mm/h smaller and higher than the gold standard. The RIs were calculated based on three clusters: the first pertained to patients aged ≥ 18 but ≤ 49 years; the second pertained to patients aged ≥ 50 but ≤ 69 years; the last comprised patients aged ≥ 70 years. Due to the clear overlap between these ranges and the statistical analysis, we identified only one range for females ≥ 18 years (Westergren: 1-22 mm/h; VM5: 1-22 mm/h; C30T: 1-25 mm/h). For the male participants, two separate RIs were proposed: one for those aged ≥ 18 but < 69 years (Westergren: 1-14 mm/h; VM5: 1-14 mm/h; C30T: 1-18 mm/h) and one for those aged 70 years or above (Westergren: 1-22 mm/h; VM5: 1-23 mm/h; C30T: 1-29 mm/h). <b>Conclusions</b>: The proposed RI for automated analyzers C30T and VM5 agreed with the reference method and can be adopted to measure ESRs within EDTA blood samples.