Laboratory control of oral anticoagulant therapy: preservation of prothrombin time specimens using a polypropylene collection system.

Previous studies have shown a marked time and temperature dependent shortening of the prothrombin time (PT) when blood is exposed to borosilicate (glass) or siliconized borosilicate tubes. Current recommendations are that samples for PT estimation should be tested within 2 h of collection. In this study using polypropylene collection tubes, blood obtained from 30 patients on oral anticoagulant therapy showed no significant change in International Normalized Ratio (INR) value after 24 h storage--either at 4 degrees C or room temperature. After 48 h. changes in INR values from refrigerated samples were still clinically insignificant. After 48 h storage at room temperature, however, a minority of samples showed an increase in INR value which may be of clinical importance. The range of INRs studied was 1.0-9.1. In a second evaluation, replicate specimens from 22 orally anticoagulated patients with INRs ranging from 1.0 to 9.6 showed no significant change after 24 h at either temperature--even when samples had been subjected to 30 min of gentle agitation prior to storage and analysis. Overall, the results indicate that when polypropylene collection tubes are used, prothrombin time specimens can be successfully preserved for up to 24 h at room temperature or up to 48 h when refrigerated.