Re: tube tops (and I don't mean women's wear :-))

[Guest guest]

> > >

> > > Back in December my doc ordered a MITO panel for me and a

sample of

> > my blood

> > > was sent to Athena. Months later I received the results, but I

> > discovered

> > > that Athena had instead done the wrong panel (CMT). Athena's web

> > site says

> > > they must have very fresh blood (2-3 days max) for EACH of these

> > panels, and

> > > also lists different " tops " for the tube collections of each.

CMT

> > says

> > > " Yellow top, ACD-A " , MITO says " Lavender top (EDTA) " . Both

> > say " avoid

> > > freezing " . Nonetheless, they re-tested my now months old (not

> > frozen???)

> > > blood for mito.

> > >

> > > In May, Athena declared me " present " for the most common (80%)

of

> > the MERRF

> > > mutations, " tRNA Lys A8344G " . So I'll " take it " , but I certainly

> > don't trust

> > > them much. I will never know who made the mistake that resulted

in

> > the wrong

> > > panel, but I suspect it was at my doc's office, not Athena. In a

> > couple of

> > > phone conversations with Athena, I got a distinct impression of

> > Keystone

> > > Cops.

> > >

> > > Annoyingly, there is no way to simply go in to the Athena

building

> > (in

> > > Worcester, MA) and get blood drawn VERY fresh, and not shipped

at

> > all. Pity,

> > > as I live less than two hours away (Cape Cod) and would gladly

have

> > gone

> > > there, especially for the re-test.

> > >

> > > Sorry, I don't know anything about muscle biopsies there. But I

> > would

> > > completely ignore any claim they make about " fresh " anything.

> > >

> > > Steve D.

> > >

> > > > Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 16:42:34 -0000

> > > > From: " "

> > > > Subject: athena labs

> > > >

> > > > I have seen several references to poor work done by athena

labs.

> > The

> > > > reason I am concerned is because the tissue from my last

muscle

> > biopsy

> > > > was sent there and am awaiting those results. From what I have

> > read,

> > > > they don't have a very good track record. Any thoughts or

advice

> > would

> > > > be helpful in case the results from this last biopsy prove to

be

> > less

> > > > than helpful. Thanks!!

> > > >

> > > >

[Guest guest]

Steve

The colors are consistent from one manufacturer to another. Besides

the correct color top giving the right fixitive, there are sometimes

additional things that have to be followed. Some tests require shaking

to dispurse the fixitive, some have to be kept out of the ice, some

have to be iced immediately and some have to be kept warm. The

hospital lab that I use has little plastic things where you join the

liquid in the two halfs and it gets warm to keep those needing this

warm. The are meant for warming the feet of babies before they try to

fill pippettes with blood from their heels.

laurie

> I was aware that different tube tops implied different " fixatives " and/or

> immediate " pre " -treatment of some form. The point I was making is that

> Athena called for two specifically different tube tops for the two panels,

> CMT and MITO. And so when they re-tested my months old blood for MITO,

> having already tested (erroneously) the same sample for CMT, Athena must

> surely have been contradicting at least one of their own protocols. If the

> sample had been tubed for CMT, then it would be wrong for MITO, or vice

> versa. Or, possibly, they could have tubed it for NEITHER correctly. I wish

> I'd looked, at the blood draw. But then again, at that point I had no idea

> they were going to do the wrong test. (On another point, BOTH of the above

> tests were supposed to be done on very fresh blood, and so Athena violated

> THAT too, upon re-testing).

>

> Anyway, RH, when you make the FURTHER distinction about different test preps

> for the same tube top, I'm assuming that difference would be at TEST time,

> not collection time, because at collection time the included fixatives are

> committed. So it's potentially confusing but at least possible to get it

> right at the lab.

>

> But what I find REALLY disturbing, if I'm reading you right, RH, is that

> just specifying a required tube COLOR doesn't absolutely define it, but you

> have to state the manufacturer as well. Like for instance lavender from one

> company might not be the same as lavender from another company. Even if the

> instructions are stated correctly, asking a lab tech to verify PRINTED

> words, and not just the color, is ASKING for trouble. Surely they could use

> TWO color bands or one CHECKERED color band or SOME scheme to better handle

> this issue.

>

> And in the news recently is CVS getting slapped for mis-filling

> prescriptions, which is surely a bigger problem than just the reported

> cases.

>

> The moral? Dunno, maybe " be involved " but that's obviously not enough.

>

> Steve D.

>

> > Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:42:09 -0000

> >

> > Subject: Re: athena labs

> >

> > Different color tops mean different test preps. For example, some

> > have heparin in them to keep the blood tested thin. Some are

> > different sizes too. Lactate and pyruvate tests need addition of

> > acid, which can be done by adding the right amount of a strong acid

> > before the sample is added, or IMMEDIATELY afterwards. Ammonia tubes

> > need to be on ice. I think the CoQ10 tube needed to be protected

> > from light (they put aluminum foil on it).

> >

> > Check out this PDF file for a brief review of tube types:

> >

> > http://www.bd.com/vacutainer/pdfs/plus_plastic_tubes_wallchart_orderof

> > draw_VS5729.pdf

> >

> > The hard part is that different tube companies may have different

> > color tops, AND different labs may require different test preps

> > for " the same " test, because of a different protocol or if they've

> > done different QC testing to show an additive is or is not needed.

> >

> > P.S. Green is a heparin tube if they used BD brand...

> >

> > Take care,

> > RH

> >

> >

> > >

> > > Back in December my doc ordered a MITO panel for me and a sample of

> > my blood

> > > was sent to Athena. Months later I received the results, but I

> > discovered

> > > that Athena had instead done the wrong panel (CMT). Athena's web

> > site says

> > > they must have very fresh blood (2-3 days max) for EACH of these

> > panels, and

> > > also lists different " tops " for the tube collections of each. CMT

> > says

> > > " Yellow top, ACD-A " , MITO says " Lavender top (EDTA) " . Both

> > say " avoid

> > > freezing " . Nonetheless, they re-tested my now months old (not

> > frozen???)

> > > blood for mito.

> > >

> > > In May, Athena declared me " present " for the most common (80%) of

> > the MERRF

> > > mutations, " tRNA Lys A8344G " . So I'll " take it " , but I certainly

> > don't trust

> > > them much. I will never know who made the mistake that resulted in

> > the wrong

> > > panel, but I suspect it was at my doc's office, not Athena. In a

> > couple of

> > > phone conversations with Athena, I got a distinct impression of

> > Keystone

> > > Cops.

> > >

> > > Annoyingly, there is no way to simply go in to the Athena building

> > (in

> > > Worcester, MA) and get blood drawn VERY fresh, and not shipped at

> > all. Pity,

> > > as I live less than two hours away (Cape Cod) and would gladly have

> > gone

> > > there, especially for the re-test.

> > >

> > > Sorry, I don't know anything about muscle biopsies there. But I

> > would

> > > completely ignore any claim they make about " fresh " anything.

> > >

> > > Steve D.

> > >

> > > > Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 16:42:34 -0000

> > > > From: " "

> > > > Subject: athena labs

> > > >

> > > > I have seen several references to poor work done by athena labs.

> > The

> > > > reason I am concerned is because the tissue from my last muscle

> > biopsy

> > > > was sent there and am awaiting those results. From what I have

> > read,

> > > > they don't have a very good track record. Any thoughts or advice

> > would

> > > > be helpful in case the results from this last biopsy prove to be

> > less

> > > > than helpful. Thanks!!

> > > >

> > > >

>

>

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