Specimen Requirements

Serum

Draw blood in a gold-top (serum separator) gel tube. Label the specimen with the patient’s name (first and last), date of birth, date and time of draw, phlebotomist’s initials, and as serum. Allow blood to completely clot. Spin down and send specimen refrigerated.

Note: If ANA is positive, an ANA titer and pattern and dsDNA testing will be performed at an additional charge.

Specimen stability:

2 days at room temperature

5 days refrigerated at 2-8°C

Store frozen at ≤ -20°C for longer storage

Minimum volume:

1 full gold-top tube

Specimen rejection criteria:

Grossly lipemic, hemolyzed or contaminated sera are not acceptable for testing.