Hemolyzed Samples Should be Processed for Coagulation Studies: The Study of Hemolysis Effects on Coagulation Parameters

BACKGROUND: Rejecting hemolyzed specimens received for coagulation studies is advised by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Receiving such specimens is a common phenomenon in many laboratories. The true impact of hemolysis on coagulation studies is little studied in clinical practice. Aim: The aim of this work is to study the changes occurring in readings of prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) in hemolyzed samples. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 45 blood samples were collected from two groups of healthy donors and patient population. Samples were run for PT and aPTT and then were hemolyzed and again rerun for PT and aPTT. GraphPad Prism 5 (Version 5, USA) was the software used for statistical analysis and paired “t” test was applied with significance level at 0.05. RESULTS: There was trend of increase in the readings of PT and aPTT in normal population and there was trend of decrease in the reading in patient population. The difference between paired samples from group one was not statistically significant, but it was significant in samples from second group. CONCLUSION: Samples sent for routine screening of coagulation studies with visible hemolysis can be processed for coagulation. There was no difference observed in hemolyzed and non-hemolyzed samples.