Specimen Requirements

Specimen Type: Platelet-poor plasma 

Collection Container/Tube:

Preferred: Light-blue top (3.2% sodium citrate)

Acceptable: Sodium citrate (BD® or Greiner tubes)

Submission Container/Tube: Polypropylene (cloudy plastic) vials

Specimen Minimum Volume: 1 mL in each of 3 polypropylene (cloudy plastic) vials

Collection Instructions:

1. Hemolyzed specimen is not acceptable.

2. If sending from a site, spin down, remove top 2/3 of plasma, and spin plasma again in a polypropylene (cloudy plastic) vial.

3. Aliquot top 3/4 from each tube and place a minimum of 1 mL of citrate platelet-poor plasma in 3 polypropylene (cloudy plastic) vials.

4. Glass vials are not acceptable for processing/transport/storage.

Additional Information:

1.  Double-centrifuged specimens are critical for accurate results as platelet contamination may cause spurious results.