You have to be registered and logged in for purchasing articles.

Abstract

Relationship Between Sampling Volume of Primary Serum Tubes and Spurious Hemolysis by Giuseppe Lippi, Roberta Musa, Luisita Battistelli, Gianfranco Cervellin

Background: We planned a study to establish whether spurious hemolysis may be present in low volume tubes or partially filled tubes.
Methods: Four serum tubes were collected in sequence from 20 healthy volunteers, i.e., 4.0 mL, 13 x 75 mm (discard tube), 6.0 mL, 13 x 100 mm half-filled, 4.0 mL, 13 x 75 mm full-draw and 6.0 mL, 13 x 100 mm full-draw. Serum was separated and immediately tested for hemolysis index (HI), potassium, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH).
Results: The HI always remained below the limit of detection of the method (< 0.5 g/L) in all tubes. No statistically significant differences were recorded in any parameter except potassium, which increased by 0.10 mmol/L in 4 mL full-draw tubes. No clinically significant variation was however recorded in any tube.
Conclusions: The results suggest that all types of tubes tested might be used interchangeably in term of risk of spurious hemolysis.

DOI: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2012.111225