Specimen Requirements

Specimen must arrive within 48 hours of collection for spinal fluid, 72 hours for serous fluids, and 96 hours for peripheral blood, bone marrow, and tissues.

 

This test is not appropriate for and cannot support diagnosis of sarcoidosis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, interstitial lung diseases, or differentiating between pulmonary tuberculosis and sarcoidosis (requests for CD4/CD8 ratios). Specimens sent for these purposes will be rejected.

 

The following information is required:

1. Pertinent clinical history including reason for referral or clinical indication

2. Clinical or morphologic suspicion

3. Specimen source

4. Date and time of collection

5. For blood or bone marrow, submit day of collection cbc with differential data.

Forms:

1. Hematopathology Patient Information Sheet (Supply T676) in Special Instructions

2. If not ordering electronically, please submit a Hematopathology/Molecular Oncology Request Form (Supply T241) with the specimen.

 

Submit only 1 of the following specimens:

 

Specimen Type: Blood

Container/Tube:

Preferred: Yellow top (ACD solution B)

Acceptable: ACD (solution A), heparin, EDTA

Specimen Volume: 10 mL

Minimum volume: 3 mL

Collection Instructions:

1. Do not transfer blood to other containers.

2. Include 4 to 6 unstained blood smears, if possible.

3. Label specimen as blood.

Specimen Stability Information: Ambient <96 hours/Refrigerated ≤96 hours

 

Specimen Type: Bone marrow

Container/Tube:

Preferred: Yellow top (ACD solution B)

Acceptable: ACD (solution A), heparin, EDTA

Specimen Volume: 1-5 mL

Collection Instructions:

1. Submission of bilateral specimens is not required.

2. Include 5- to 10-unstained bone marrow aspirate smears, if possible.

3. Label specimen as bone marrow.

Specimen Stability Information: Ambient <96 hours/Refrigerated ≤96 hours

Additional Information: If cytogenetic tests are also desired when drawing LCMS / Leukemia/Lymphoma Immunophenotyping by Flow Cytometry, an additional specimen should be submitted. It is important that the specimen be obtained, processed, and transported according to instructions for the other required test.

 

Specimen Type: Tissue

Container/Tube: Sterile container with 15 mL of tissue culture medium (eg, Hank's balanced salt solution [Supply T132], RPMI, or equivalent)

Specimen Volume: 5 mm(3) or larger biopsy

Collection Instructions:

1. Send intact specimen (do not mince).

2. Specimen cannot be fixed.

Additional Information:

1. Date, time of collection, tissue type, and location are required.

2. A pathology/diagnostic report including the client surgical pathology case number, a brief history, reason for referral or clinical suspicion are required before the specimen will be processed.

Specimen Stability Information: Ambient <96 hours/Refrigerated ≤96 hours

 

Specimen Type: Fluid

Sources: Serous effusions

Container/Tube: Body fluid container

Specimen Volume: 20 mL

Collection Instructions:

1. If possible, fluids other than spinal fluid should be anticoagulated with heparin (1 U/mL of fluid).
2. Label specimen with fluid type.

Additional Information: The volume of fluid necessary to phenotype the lymphocytes or blasts in serous effusions depends upon the cell count in the specimen. Usually 20 mL of pleural or peritoneal fluid is sufficient. Smaller volumes can be used if there is a high cell count.

 

Specimen Type: Spinal fluid

Container/Tube: Sterile vial

Specimen Volume: 1-1.5 mL

Collection Instructions:

1. An original cytospin preparation (preferably unstained) must be included with the spinal fluid specimen so correlative morphologic evaluation can occur.

2. The volume of fluid necessary to phenotype the lymphocytes or blasts in spinal fluid depends upon the cell count in the specimen. A cell count should be determined and submitted with the specimen. Usually 1 to 1.5 mL of spinal fluid is sufficient. Smaller volumes can be used if there is a high cell count. If cell count is <10 cells/mcL, a larger volume of spinal fluid may be required. When cell counts drop below 5 cells/mcL, the immunophenotypic analysis may not be successful.

3. Label specimen as spinal fluid.

Specimen Stability Information: Refrigerated <48 hours/Ambient ≤48 hours

Additional Information: Spinal fluid cell and differential counts are required.

 

Specimen Type:  FNA (FIne Needle Aspiration/ needle pass fluid)

Container/ Tube:  Sterile container with 15 mL of tissue culture medium (eg, Hank's balanced salt solution (BSS)[Supply T132], or equivalent)

Specimen Volume: At least  2 needle passes/rinses recommended

Collection Instructions: Specimens collected in Hank's BSS can be used for multiple purposes including cell block, cytogenetics and flow cytometry.

• Fine Needle Aspiration Procedure

Additional Information:

1. Date, time of collection, tissue type, and location are required.

2. A pathology/diagnostic report including the client surgical pathology case number, a brief history, reason for referral or clinical suspicion are required before the specimen will be processed.

Specimen Stability Information: Ambient <96 hours/Refrigerated ≤96 hours