In my lab, the heme department uses coag tubes with 1:2 dil. to get rid of platelet clumps flag and report that result if it is higher than the original result. Does anyone uses this technique. I don't think it works but need more feedback to support my argument of this practice.

"coag tubes with 1:2 dil"

?? The coag tubes used in most laboratories dilute blood 1:9 with citrate. In many cases collection of blood in citrated plasma may prevent platelet clumping . . . this technique is industry standard.What is the 1:2 dilution you refer to? To my knowledge, the standard coag tube available from BD, Greiner and others is a 1:9 dilution. To give you feedback, we need more details about your technique. What do we do about platelet clumps in our lab?

Vortex the specimen and rerun. Sometimes this breaks up the clumps.

Suggest recollection in citrate, i.e. a BD blue top Vacutainer. We do not add the EDTA specimen to the citrate . . . we redraw the patient.

Report the count as decreased, slightly decreased, adequate, slightly increased or increased based on smear observations and remove the instrument count when the clumping cannot be eliminated. In most cases, the physician is happy with that.

LR