Plastic tubes such as the BD SST II contain silica as a clot activator,
since clotting in plain plastic tubes is slow. The slightly higher potassium
in glass or clot activator tubes is due mainly to lysis of platelets as part
of the clotting process and this can lead to more significant differences
with plasma samples if there is a high platelet count. Possibly a good
reason to look at FBC results if you get a slightly raised or unexpectedly
raised potassium?
Malcolm Gray
Chief Biomedical Scientist
Clinical Biochemistry
Barts and the London NHS Trust
St Bartholomew's Hospital
West Smithfield
London EC1A 7BE
Tel: 020 7601 8253
Fax: 020 7601 8424
Mobile: 0794 100 7290
Mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.bartsandthelondon.org
-----Original Message-----
From: David Brown [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 06 December 2002 10:47
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re-Serum vs Plasma Potassium
¿A question, are serum K results significantly
different if the sample is collected in a glass tube
as opposed to a plastic one? I seem to recall that
blood clots faster in glass and the clot had a
different appearance, more like a gel, whereas the
clot in a plastic tube appears more fibrous (or are my
eyes or my brain deceiving me? !!again!!).
David Brown
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