Cleveland Family Study

3.6 Venipuncture Processing

3.6.1 Overview

Processing should be initiated as soon as possible (< 30 minutes) following venipuncture. The red-topped serum tubes must stand at room temperature for at least 40 minutes before centrifugation. If centrifugation of the other tubes is not immediate, the EDTA, Citrate and SCAT-1 tubes (tubes #2, #3 and #4) should remain on ice. Personal protective equipment (non-permeable lab coats, double-gloves with at least one latex pair, splatter shields) is required for processing.

3.6.1.1 Blind Duplicate Overview

Blood blind duplicate samples will be collected on all four different tube types. At least 35 blind duplicate samples (5% of the total anticipated study population) will be collected for each tube type. Blind duplicates will only be drawn on adults (age 18 or older). The blind duplicate selection criteria will be established by Case Western Reserve University. If the patient scheduled to be a blind duplicate is under the age of 18, the next adult patient will participate in the blind duplicate procedure.