1 mL serum
0.5 mL
Transport tube
Refrigerated (cold packs)
Room temperature: Unacceptable
Refrigerated: 4 days
Frozen: 21 days
Hemolysis • Grossly lipemic • Specimens with particulate matter or microbial contamination • Specimens outside of listed stability
1 mL serum
0.5 mL
Plastic screw-cap vial
Frozen
Room temperature: 4 hours
Refrigerated: 24 hours
Frozen: 30 days
Received room temperature • Gross hemolysis
1 mL plasma collected in an EDTA (lavender-top) tube
0.3 mL
Mix the sample and centrifuge immediately after collection to separate plasma from cells. Transfer plasma to a plastic specimen transport container and mark the specimen type as plasma on the container. Freeze immediately. Cytokine levels may demonstrate diurnal variation. Recommend cytokine levels be determined at the same time of day for improved longitudinal comparison.
Transport tube
Frozen
Room temperature: 4 hours
Refrigerated: 48
hours Frozen: 1 year
Gross hemolysis • Gross lipemia • Received room temperature • Received refrigerated • Gross icterus
Preferred Specimen(s)
3 mL frozen plasma collected in an EDTA (lavender-top) tube
1 mL
Transport Container
Transport tube
Transport Temperature
Frozen
Specimen Stability
Room temperature: Unacceptable Refrigerated: Unacceptable
Frozen: 90 days
Reject Criteria
Received room temperature • Received refrigerated
1 mL platelet-free plasma collected in EDTA (lavender-top) tube
0.25 mL
PSC Collections: Collect in EDTA (lavender-top) tube and immediately centrifuge to prepare platelet-poor plasma. Decant the plasma into another pour-over tube. Centrifuge a second time and pour over plasma. Freeze immediately.
Client Collections: Collect in EDTA (lavender-top) tube. Centrifuge for 15 minutes at 1000 X g within 30 minutes of collection. Centrifuge plasma again at 3000 X g for 10 minutes for complete platelet removal. Freeze Immediately.
For fixed speed centrifuges such as 645e: Collect in EDTA (lavender-top) tube. Centrifuge 3 times for 10 minutes at 1600 X g while decanting the plasma each time before the next spin within 30 minutes of collection. Freeze immediately.
Transport tube
Frozen
Room temperature: Not established
Refrigerated: 48 hours
Frozen -20° C: 14 days
Frozen -70° C: 30 days
Hemolysis • Grossly lipemic • Specimens with particulate matter or microbial contamination • Specimens outside of listed stability