We have a Roche Modular and we use gel SST Vacutainer tubes for everyone
except the SITU - their specimens were coming too quick (pneumatic tube
system) to allow them to clot properly and frequently the patients' fluid
regimes were such that the specimens only partially clotted.
We have a large GP work load (10% of Scotland's GPs) and the specimens
received in the late afternoon are centrifuged and left overnight for
analysis the following day. When we first moved to Vacutainers, we tried
using plasma (PST) tubes. The specimens stored overnight sometimes
developed fine fibrin clots - if you tried to re-centrifuge the tubes, some
potassium-rich plasma from under the gel moved into the layer above the gel
and gave artificially high potassium levels.
Elliott Simpson, Monklands Hospital, Airdrie UK
-----Original Message-----
From: Grimes, Helen [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 March 2001 17:44
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject:
We always used serum with Bayer DAX, and it had an excellent clot detecting
system. Now we are unsure with the new Modular Roche Instrument. Are we in
the minority preferring gel clot tubes serum, and do Hitachi users think we
should be using plasma?
Helen Grimes Dept Clin Biochem UCH Galway
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