Stability of hematological analytes during 48 hours storage at three temperatures using Cell-Dyn hematology analyzer

Abstract

Background: The complete blood count (CBC) with differential leukocyte count (DLC) is one of the most common tests requested by physicians. The results of this test are affected by storage temperature and time of incubation. This study was designed to evaluate the stability of hematologic parameters in blood specimens stored for 48 hours at three temperatures.
 Methods: K2 EDTA- blood was collected from 22 apparently healthy adults. The CBC was performed using Cell-Dyn 3700 hematology analyzer (Abbott Diagnostics, IL, USA) immediately; 0 Time Point and at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24 and 48 h after storage at 4°C, 10°C or 23°C. Changes in values of CBC parameters from the 0 Time Point were determined and reported as % of the initial value. Statistical comparisons were made using the paired-t test and the repeated measures ANOVA. 
 Results: RBC, PLT, Hb and MCH were found stable during 48 h storage at 4°C, 10°C or 23°C. HCT and MCV increased, while WBC decreased significantly at 48 h when stored at 23°C. LYM, NEU, EOS and BASO values showed significant differences after 12 h of storage at 23°C. WBC, HCT, MCV, MCHC, RDW, NEU, MONO, BASO and EOS were stable for 48 h if blood samples were stored at 4°C or 10°C.
 Conclusions: RBC, PLT, Hb and MCH are the only suitable parameters without refrigeration during 24 h storage. When CBC and DLC are performed, 4°C can be recommended as the most suitable storage temperature for 12 h storage.

Study of refrigerated storage of blood at 4°C on automated hematological parameters & morphological changes in peripheral blood smear: A prospective study

“…9,10 In regular haematological workup, more than 70% of all errors commonly occurs during preanalytical phase which includes preparation of patient, collection, transportation, storage of collected blood samples & preparation for analysis. 11 It is also necessary to consider the environmental temperature at different places, particularly in hot climate areas e.g. southern countries which affects stability of hematological parameters & final results.…”

Influence of drone carriage material on maintenance of storage temperature and quality of blood samples during transportation in an equatorial climate

“…Our observation showed that EPS foam shaped into a six-faced cuboid with external dimensions (length x width x height) of 24 cm x 14 cm x 18 cm was the best material to be used for drone carriage due to its ability to maintain optimal mean kinetic temperature for blood sample transportation, which was 4.70 ± 1.14°C. Unalli et al (2021) reported that the best storage temperature to maintain hematological analytes in EDTA tubes over 12 hours was 4°C [ 30 ]. This result is in congruence with the current practice in Malaysia where the EPS foam storage box is used to transport blood samples using ground vehicles such as motorcycles or ambulance [ 31 ].…”

“…We would like to thank the Director General of Health Malaysia, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah for his permission to publish this article (Reference Number: NIH.800-4/4/1. Jld 94 (30)). We thank our colleagues and staff from the Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia, who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted this research.…”

Re: Hazem Orabi, Lauren Howard, Christopher L. Amling, et al. Red Blood Cell Distribution Width Is Associated with All-cause Mortality but Not Adverse Cancer-specific Outcomes in Men with Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer Treated with Radical Prostatectomy: Findings Based on a Multicenter Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital Registry. Eur Urol Open Sci 2022;37:106–12

“…RDW is reported by all hematology instruments in clinical use and is expressed as the standard distribution (RDW-SD) or coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) for the red blood cell histogram. Several preanalytical variables may impact RDW and be a source of bias, including storage time, storage temperature, tube type, and transport conditions [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] . In addition, there is a lack of harmonization for RDW reporting by different instrument manufacturers [9] .…”