Effect of Freezing Plasma at -20{degrees}C for 2 Weeks on Prothrombin Time, Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time, Dilute Russell Viper Venom Time, Activated Protein C Resistance, and D-Dimer Levels
Foshat, M.,
Bates, S.,
Russo, W.,
Huerta, A.,
Albright, K.,
Giddings, K.,
Indrikovs, A.,
Qian, Y.-w.
Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis
Published online on May 19, 2014
To assess the impact of preanalytical variables of time and temperature on prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), dilute Russell viper venom time (DRVVT), activated protein C resistance (APCR), and d-dimer, samples from 23 healthy individuals and 18 patients having coagulopathy with known abnormal PT and aPTT were collected. Plasma from each individual was separately pooled and aliquoted; the first 2 aliquots were stored at room temperature then analyzed at 2 hours (baseline) and 4 hours postcollection. The remaining aliquots were stored at –20°C and thawed for analysis at 48 hours, 1, and 2 weeks. In both healthy participants and participants with coagulopathy, PT, aPTT, APCR, DRVVT, and D-dimer had no significant changes at 4 and 48 hours, and 1 and 2 weeks postcollection compared to baseline, or the changes were less than 10%. The results indicate PT, aPTT, DRVVT, APCR, and d-dimer can be stored for 2 weeks at –20°C without compromising clinical interpretation in both healthy individuals and individuals with coagulopathy. Increasing storage time will facilitate sample processing from off-site clinics.