Feb 3 2014
From Gnaesh Lyer, Florida Hospital: Have you done any correlation studies for Plavix and aspirin if the tubes are sent by tube system from floors rather than hand delivering the tubes? Does the results vary a lot or with in acceptable range? Thanks.
Hello, Gnaesh Lyer, and thank you for your question. I know of no studies that examine the effect of specimen tube system agitation affecting platelet function assay results, and have forwarded your question to several colleagues to learn if anyone has unpublished data on the subject. Perhaps one of our participants may have a comment to add.
Comments (5)
Platelet Function Testing
Whole blood aggregometry and ATP release with luminescence w
Whole blood aggregometry and ATP release with luminescence were tested in Dr. Sarode’s lab in Texas. It was concluded in the following reference that a pneumatic tube system should not be used for those samples: Dyszkiewicz-Korpanty A, Quinton R, Yassine J, Sarode R. The effect of a pneumatic tube transport system on PFA-100 trade mark closure time and whole blood platelet aggregation. J Thromb Haemost. 2004;2:354-6.
I did perform a mini-study here at our institution and did i
I did perform a mini-study here at our institution and did indeed find a negative effect on the platelet function using the PFA-100 and the VerifyNow PRU test.
To all: I found another article that was published by D Bol
To all: I found another article that was published by D Bollinger et al: in Platelets, 2009;20:458-465 titled, “Pre-analytical efects of pneumatic tube transport on impedance platelet aggregometry.” In other words on whole blood aggregometry assessed with a Multiplate analyzer using a variety of agonists. They concluded that clinical decisions regarding platelet function and aspirin responsiveness should not be based on blood specimens transported by a pneumatic tube system.
At the request of the FDA, for the clearance of the Platele
At the request of the FDA, for the clearance of the PlateletWorks, a single platelet counting aggregation system, we did not see any significant difference between samples that were hand carried and their duplicate samples that were shipped using a pneumatic tube transport system (unpublished). The main concern with the pneumatic system was possible hemolysis that could potentially affect the platelet function. The testing was performed with ADP and Collagen. I think that in combination with Dave McGlasson’s comments, this demonstrates that many of the platforms that are presently available for monitoring platelet function are not comparable due to their distinct detection methods. I would suggest a small study to determine if the pneumatic system affects the results from the Accumetric’s system.
In a paper published In Clin Lab 2010;56:59-64, Hubner U and
In a paper published In Clin Lab 2010;56:59-64, Hubner U and colleagues looked at “The effect of a pneumatic tube transport system on platelet aggregation using optical aggregometry and the PFA-100.” They used collagen-induced optical aggregometry in comparing tubed samples in comparison to corresponding hand-delivered samples using collagen in two concentrations. They additionally looked at the PFA-100 closure times for the epinephrine/collagen and ADP/collagen cartridge stimulation. In both systems they found that the pneumatic tube sample transport impaired the platelet aggregation. They recommended that the manual transport of whole blood samples for platelet function testing be used. Since the Accumetrics system was based on optical aggregation it would be reasonable to think that this method would also be affected by pneumatic tube transport of specimens.