Specimen Requirements

Specimen Type: Platelet-poor plasma

Container/Tube:

Fill Blue top tube to the etched line located just below the cap of the tube.

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

Acceptable: Full Sodium Citrate (BD® or Greiner tubes)

Specimen Volume: 1 mL

Specimen Minimum Volume: 0.5 mL

Collection Instructions:

1. Unacceptable specimens: Specimens that are short-draws, over-draws, clotted or hemolyzed may yield incorrect results.

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

3. Aliquot top 3/4 and place platelet-poor plasma in a polypropylene (cloudy plastic) vial.

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.
2. Sites: Send double spun plasma either frozen or ambient (ambient up to 24 hours).

3. If sending sodium citrate whole blood, specimen must be received within 24 hours of draw, send ambient.