Specimen Requirements
Minimum of 1.0 mL serum; alternately 1.0 mL serum from Red Top tube
Supplies for Submission
SST/Gold Top (1); alternately Red Top (1)
Specimen Collection
- Label serum separator tube (SST) with two identifiers. Acceptable identifiers include patient’s name, date of birth, social security number, requisition number, and medical record number.
- Allow SST contents to clot in an upright position for at least 30 minutes (60 minutes for Red Top tube).
- SST specimen - centrifuge within 2 hours of collection and refrigerate.
- Red Top specimen - centrifuge within 2 hours of collection, transfer serum to a plastic transport tube labelled appropriately and as Red Top serum, and refrigerate.
Storage Requirements
Refrigerated.
Specimens are stable if refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for 1 month.
Causes for Rejections
Specimens with the following conditions are not accepted:
- gross hemolysis
- gross lipemia
- contaminated
- heat-inactivated