Hypofibrinogenemia is often associated with excessive bleeding and requires immediate treatment. The qLabs FIB® is a handheld and easy-to-use point-of-care (POC) device designed for the rapid measurement of functional fibrinogen concentration from a single drop of citrated whole blood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the analytical performances of the qLabs FIB system. Fibrinogen concentrations from 110 citrated whole blood specimen were measured by both the qLabs FIB and the Clauss laboratory reference methods (STA®-Liquid Fib assay on STA-R® Max from Stago). A three-laboratories comparison study was conducted to assess reproducibility and repeatability of the qLabs FIB using plasma quality control material. In addition, single-site assays were conducted to assess the repeatability from citrated whole blood specimen covering the qLabs FIB reportable range. A very strong correlation between the qLabs FIB and the Clauss laboratory reference method was observed (r = 0.95). Using a clinical cut-off value of 2.0 g/L, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of citrated whole blood was 0.99 and sensibility and specificity were 100 % and 93.5 %, respectively. Percent CVs for reproducibility and repeatability assessed from quality control material, were both <5 %. Repeatability assessed from citrated whole blood specimen showed a CV of 2.6 to 6.5 %. In conclusion, the qLabs FIB system enables a rapid and reliable measurement of functional fibrinogen levels from citrated whole blood and exhibits a strong prediction power at the 2 g/L clinical cut-off when compared to the Clauss laboratory reference. Further clinical studies should demonstrate its ability to quickly confirm the diagnosis of acquired hypofibrinogenemia and help identify patients who may benefit from targeted hemostatic treatment.
Keywords: Clauss method; Fibrinogen; Hemorrhage; Hypofibrinogenemia; Point-of-care testing; qLabs FIB®.
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