THE LONG-TERM STABILITY IN WHOLE-BLOOD OF 14 COMMONLY-REQUESTED HORMONE ANALYTES

Concentrations of 14 commonly-requested plasma hormones were measured in octuplicate in each of six subjects to determine their stability wh en unseparated from red cells for periods up to 1 week. Most of the an alytes were stable when stored in this way and although statistically significant changes were recorded, in the great majority of cases the changes seen would have no bearing on the clinical interpretation of t he result. In the light of these findings, we would confidently report results of analyses for these hormones in plasma that had remained in contact with red cells at ambient temperature for long periods of tim e.