What would render serum "unusable?"

[No tears in ATL]

I picked up my serum tears the other day and the pharmacist told me that over half the centrifuged blood that my doctor's office sent over was unusable. What could this mean? Was the sample not centrifuged properly or (my worst fear) could there be contamination?

Has this happened to anyone? As a result of this, I only got half the drops I needed, and thankfully they didn't charge me the entire amount.

Of course, I'm a little worried. Could the whole batch potentially have something wrong? The drops are still that clear pale yellow, but compared to my batch from last time they are EVer so slightly darker in color.

Sorry for seeming so paranoid...I worry about anything having to do with blood...this is the first time I've had to do this with blood couriered over to the pharmacy versus having the draw done on site. I'm appreciative of the doc's efforts, but I have a tendency to worry due to how delicately this stuff must be handled.

[spmcc]

I picked up my serum tears the other day and the pharmacist told me that over half the centrifuged blood that my doctor's office sent over was unusable. What could this mean? Was the sample not centrifuged properly or (my worst fear) could there be contamination?

There's something in this 2009 article about a HIL test: http://www.arlok.com/articles/Applic...ye%20Drops.pdf

[vivian3090]

Were you able to see your vials at all after they were centrifuged??

I work in a lab, there can be a dozen reasons why...BUT it could be because it was slightly hemolyzed. Did it look to have a reddish tint to it??

it could also be maybe b/c the vials were expired?? It honestly could be a dozen of things....

They didn't tell you as to why they are unusable?

[No tears in ATL]

No, unfortunately I did not get to see any of it. I guess it could have been hemolyzed, and I hope they didn't use the wrong type of tube (I read somewhere that those vacu-tainers have to have a certain color lid if you're getting serum?). Agh, this is frustrating, especially since now I've gotta go do this all over. Is there anyone who gets blood drawn and a 6 month supply of serum drops? There was an article someone posted that said 6 months in the freezer and it would not deteriorate. It is really hard for me to get off work to get this done quarterly.

[vivian3090]

There could be another tube they used (a red top) , but plebs are pretty good at knowing the difference between what needs to be drawn with what tube, when it comes to a basic blood draw.

The usual tube I would think that would be used is a tiger top. A tiger top has gel at the bottom so when it gets centrifuged the gell sepereates the plasma from the rest of the unused blood portion. if it was a red top, there isn't any gel, so if you spin it down, and then take it out and shake it, the plasma will mix in again with the blood.

I personalyly dont know about the 6 month.
Last time when I went to get my blood drawn for my drops, I got 3 tubes done and i got about 15 bottles from it though.

[No tears in ATL]

There could be another tube they used (a red top) , but plebs are pretty good at knowing the difference between what needs to be drawn with what tube, when it comes to a basic blood draw.

The usual tube I would think that would be used is a tiger top. A tiger top has gel at the bottom so when it gets centrifuged the gell sepereates the plasma from the rest of the unused blood portion. if it was a red top, there isn't any gel, so if you spin it down, and then take it out and shake it, the plasma will mix in again with the blood.

I personalyly dont know about the 6 month.
Last time when I went to get my blood drawn for my drops, I got 3 tubes done and i got about 15 bottles from it though.

Thanks, Vivian! You can be our resident lab expert for DEZ! Did not know the difference between those tubes.