engleski

Comparison of BD BarricorTM vs. BD Rapid Serum Tube (RST) for thyroid hormones

Background-aim In recent years, BD Barricor™ lithium-heparin plasma tube with a mechanical separator was introduced to improve laboratory workflow and to provide a fast and high-quality plasma sample. We aimed to compare results and stability of thyroid hormones, free T3, free T4, and TSH in the BD Barricor™ lithium-heparin plasma tube, versus BD Rapid Serum Tube, routinely used in the Osijek Clinical Hospital Center laboratory for thyroid hormones analysis. Methods Venous blood samples were collected from 43 hospital patients by venipuncture in RST tubes and additionally in Barricor LH (lithium- heparin) tubes. Directly after venipuncture, tubes were carefuly inverted and centrifuged according to manufacturer instructions. Thyroid hormones, free T3, free T4, and TSH were measured by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay by Alinity analyzer (Abbott Laboratories, Lake Forest, USA). Venous blood samples collected in the RST tubes were centrifuged within thirty minutes of sampling, for ten minutes at 1300 g. This was followed by the serum separation from the cells, which was used to measure the concentration of selected analytes. Samples collected by venipuncture in Barricor LH tubes were also centrifuged within thirty minutes of sampling, for three minutes at 4000 g.The resulting plasma was also used to measure the concentration of selected analytes. First, we compared results of all three analytes from RST tubes with Barricor™ tubes using Passing-Bablok and Bland-Altman analyses followed by calculating the difference of analytes concentration beetween baseline and a 24h time interval in tubes stored at +4°C. Results The results of the test tube comparison in the initial (baseline) time (0) showed a statistically significant difference for a pair of values when determining TSH. Results for TSH obtained using a RST and Barricor tubes were 1, 250 (0, 580 - 2, 534) mIU/L and 1, 310 (0, 605 - 2, 606) mIU/L (p = 0, 002), respectively. Passing-Bablok regression analysis of measured values showed that for TSH and free T3 there is a proportional difference in serum and plasma while Bland-Altman analysis showed an acceptable concordance for all measured analytes. Serum and plasma samples were tested for the analytes stability after a 24 hour tubes storage at 2-8 °C and although plasma and serum free T3 and free T4 levels showed statistically significant difference between those two measurements all mean differences were within the range of clinically acceptable deviations for all tested analytes. Conclusions Using Barricor tubes improves laboratory workflow and efficiency and also provides a prompt centrifugation and a high-quality plasma sample. Additionaliy, all analyses can be performed within 24h of specimen collection.

BD Barricor tube, RST, TSH, fT3, fT4

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