Specimen Collection

Blood Viscosity Test

EDTA-anticoagulated whole blood required.

6 cc volume required:  Use two standard 4-cc lavender-top vacutainers and fill.

Use needle gauges < 22 to prevent cell lysis.

All tubes should be inverted at least 4 times to ensure adequate mixing.

Ambient stability:  8 hours.

Refrigerated stability:  4 hours.

If sending sample, blood must be stored at 2-10 °C and received within 2 days of specimen collection.  Use the UPS overnight labels and gel-packs provided in your insulated Blood Viscosity Kits.  Freeze gel-packs 24 hours prior to shipment.

Frozen samples are unacceptable.  Blood viscosity cannot be measured accurately with blood that has been frozen.

Reference ranges :
Systolic Blood Viscosity:  30 - 40 mP
Diastolic Blood Viscosity:  150 - 250 mP