Hemolyzed Specimens: A Reason for Rejection or a Clinical Challenge?

Abstract

Clinical laboratories must improve the preanalytical phase, a phase highly susceptible to mistakes ( 1). In some reports, hemolyzed specimens, the most common reason for rejection, account for ∼60% of rejected specimens, fivefold more than the second most common cause ( 2). Cellular contents can falsely increase values for some plasma constituents, such as potassium, lactate dehydrogenase, and aspartate aminotransferase ( 3). Moreover, hemolysis produces spectrophotometric interference with other laboratory methods.