Preferred Specimen(s) 3 mL frozen plasma collected in a PPT EDTA (whitetop) tube or EDTA (lavender-top) tube
Instructions Separate plasma from cells by centrifugation within 6 hours of collection and transfer plasma to separate plastic screw cap vial.
Transport Container Plastic screw-cap vial
Transport Temperature
- Refrigerated 5 days,
- Frozen 35 days
Reject Criteria
- Received refrigerated later than 72 hours from collection
- Received room temperature
- Received thawed
Methodology Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
Clinical Significance: Useful in monitoring therapy and disease progression. Reportable range is 50 to 50,000,000 IU/mL.