BD rapid serum tubes reduce false positive plasma troponin T results on the Roche Cobas e411 analyzer

Abstract

In an attempt to reduce false positive results and improve turnaround time, we investigated the BD Rapid Serum Tube as an alternate sample type to lithium heparin plasma for Roche Troponin T analysis on the Roche Cobas e411 analyzer. BD Plasma Separator Tubes (PST) and Rapid Serum Tubes (RST) were collected in tandem from Emergency Department patients who had clinical orders for Troponin T over a 1 month period. RST and PST samples yielded analytically and clinically concordant Troponin T results on the Roche Cobas e411. Rare false positive results in lithium heparin samples were not observed with rapid clot serum tubes. RST samples are appropriate for stat Troponin T analysis, and appear to reduce the incidence of rare false positive Troponin T results obtained with lithium heparin samples.