• Matthew S Johnston, Karen L Rosenthal, and Frances S Shofer.
• Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital, Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
• Am. J. Vet. Res. 2007 Dec 1; 68 (12): 1348-53.

ObjectiveTo determine agreement for total protein (TP) and albumin concentrations measured by a point-of-care biochemical analyzer in heparinized whole blood and plasma samples obtained from psittacines and compare results with those from a commercial laboratory.Sample PopulationHematologic samples from 92 healthy birds.ProceduresDuplicate samples of heparinized whole blood and plasma were obtained. A point-of-care biochemical analyzer was used to determine TP and albumin concentrations. To assess precision, intraclass correlation coefficient (r(i)) and Bland-Altman measures of agreement were used. These results were compared by use of Bland-Altman plots with those obtained from a commercial laboratory that used a biuret method for TP concentration and electrophoresis for albumin concentration.ResultsFor the analyzer, there was excellent agreement (r(i) = 0.91) between heparinized whole blood and plasma samples for TP and albumin concentrations. Relative error was 0.9% for TP and 0.7% for albumin. Analyzer results correlated well with commercial laboratory results, with a downward bias of 0.6 for TP and 0.3 for albumin.Conclusions And Clinical RelevanceThe analyzer had excellent precision for analysis of heparinized whole blood or plasma samples for TP or albumin concentrations; analyzer values had good agreement with those from a commercial laboratory. The analyzer could be a valid method to measure plasma TP concentrations and provide point-of-care testing in apparently healthy parrots. Biochemical analyzer results for plasma albumin concentration were not validated by results from a commercial laboratory, so conclusions cannot be drawn regarding use of the analyzer in measurement of albumin concentrations in psittacines.

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