Clinical Pathology Laboratory - Sample Submission
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After hours
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| This applies to Cornell University Hospital for Animal (CUHA) samples
collected after hours or those samples submitted to the New York State
Diagnostic Laboratory. An after-hours emergency technician service
is available for CUHA patients. This service is only for performing
tests after hours. It is not for adding on tests, locating samples
or providing results from samples submitted earlier in the day. |
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A fee of $10.00 is added to each "STAT" test requested per
instrument. |
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STAT chemistry tests - all stats must be submitted as heparin (green
top tube) otherwise the results will be delayed while we wait for
the sample to clot! |
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In order to guarantee same-day results for tests submitted after 3.00
pm (Monday to Friday) or after 12.00 pm (Sat), these tests must be
STATs. However, the same principles above apply. Only do this if you
need the results to make immediate treatment decisions. |
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CUHA samples |
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Hematology: Always make 2-3 peripheral blood good quality blood
smears (see image to the right). These should be submitted, unfixed,
unstained, with the EDTA blood for any hemogram or test involving
counts or blood smear examination. We do not charge any extra for
these blood smears, and we always (provided smear quality is sufficient)
do our blood smear examination from the submitted smears. This is
because changes occur in cells when they are stored for more than
a few hours. Platelets begin to clump, white cells become pyknotic
and undergo nuclear swelling so that many neutrophils look like bands
when they actually are not. The red cells may lyse. Red cells also
consistently swell in vitro, such that old samples (usually > 24
hours) have macrocytic hypochromic red blood cells. |
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Note: that EDTA blood should be kept refrigerated until
submission, but should be kept out of direct contact with ice
(direct contact may cause freezing of red cells, with subsequent
hemolysis). Furthermore, blood smears should not be refrigerated
or exposed to moisture (causes cell lysis) or formalin (alters
staining characteristics).
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Chemistry: Always separate serum or plasma from cells. This also
applies to corvac (serum separator tubes). Constituents, e.g. AST,
potassium, leak from cells with storage and will result in artefactually
high values, complicating result interpretation. Furthermore, cells
utilize glucose, resulting in low concentrations of this analyte with
storage. This will also happen in unseparated samples in corvac tubes.
Most analytes are stable for up to 48 hours if kept refrigerated,
therefore refrigerate the samples and submit them as soon as the laboratory
is open. |
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Cytology: |
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Smears: These should be kept out of light and should not
be stained or oiled. If they are stained and/or oiled, do not
coverslip, in case we need to restain them!! Smears should be
kept dry (do not refrigerate or let get moist at all) and out
of any kind of contact with formalin! Formalin fumes affect the
staining quality of the smear (everything is green!), which hinders
interpretation.
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Fluids: Submit the fluid in EDTA (also a red-top if the
fluid is bloody, "culture if" is indicated, or chemistry
tests are requested from the sample). Make 2-3 smears from the
fresh fluid and submit these concurrently (do not fix, stain or
oil). The smears can be made from either concentrated fluid (sediment
smears) or unconcentrated fluid (direct smears). If spinning down
the fluid to make sediment smears, ensure a portion of the fluid
is left untouched for us to make our own smears and do cell counts
etc!! Please tell us what type of smears you have made (direct
or sediment).
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Diagnostic Laboratory Samples |
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Hematology: Always make 2-3 peripheral blood smears when submitting
samples for hematology testing. These should be submitted, unfixed,
unstained, with the EDTA blood for any hemogram or test involving
counts or blood smear examination. We do not charge any extra for
these blood smears, and we always (provided smear quality is sufficient)
do our blood smear examination from the submitted smears. This is
because changes occur in cells when they are stored for more than
a few hours. Platelets begin to clump, white cells become pyknotic
and undergo nuclear swelling so that many neutrophils look like bands
when they actually are not. The red cells may lyse. Red cells also
consistently swell in vitro, such that old samples (usually > 24
hours) have macrocytic hypochromic red blood cells. |
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Note: that EDTA blood should be kept refrigerated until
mailing and should be mailed on a cold pack, but should be kept
out of direct contact with the pack (insert paper towels between
the blood and the icepack). Direct contact may cause freezing
of red cells, with subsequent hemolysis. Furthermore, blood smears
should not be refrigerated or exposed to moisture (causes cell
lysis) or formalin (alters staining characteristics).
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Chemistry: Always separate serum or plasma from cells. This also
aplies to corvac (serum separator tubes). Constituents, e.g. AST,
potassium, leak from cells with storage and will result in artefactually
high values, complicating result interpretation. Furthermore, cells
utilize glucose, resulting in low concentrations of this analyte with
storage. This will also happen in unseparated samples in corvac tubes.
Most analytes are stable for up to 48 hours if kept refrigerated,
therefore refrigerate and mail in on a cool pack. |
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Cytology: |
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Smears: These should be kept out of light and should not
be stained or oiled. If they are stained and/or oiled, do not
coverslip, in case we need to restain them!! Smears should be
kept dry (do not refrigerate or let the smears come into contact
with cold packs) and out of any kind of contact with formalin!
Formalin fumes affect the staining quality of the smear (everything
is green!), which hinders interpretation.
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Fluids: Fluids should be submitted in EDTA (preferred for
cytologic evaluation) or non-anticoagulant tubes (if "culture
if" is indicated, the fluid is very bloody, or chemistry
tests are to be performed on them). Make 2-3 smears from the fresh
fluid and submit these concurrently (do not fix, stain or oil).
The smears can be made from either concentrated fluid (sediment
smears) or unconcentrated fluid (direct smears). If spinning down
the fluid to make sediment smears, ensure a portion of the fluid
is left untouched for us to make our own smears and do cell counts
etc!! Please tell us what type of smears you have made (direct
or sediment).
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CUHA Emergency technician service |
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| Emergency or out of hours service (i.e. hours when the laboratory
is normally closed) is available on a limited basis to the Cornell
University Hospital for Animals only. This service is only for performing
diagnostic tests on samples collected out-of-hours. It is not to be
used for obtaining results from tests performed earlier in the day
or for adding on tests to samples previously accessioned.
There is a $65.00 out-of-hours fee per patient, in addition to
the regular test fees for each emergency call.
To contact a technician for emergency clinical pathology, call
the laboratory at 253-3255. Your call will be forwarded to the answering
service who will then page the technician on call. You may call
the answering service directly at 1-888-299-1226.
The clinician/student in charge of the case is responsible for
bringing the samples to Clinical Pathology. The tubes/slides must
be labeled with the patient ID, otherwise they will not be accessioned
(make sure that the correct patient ID has been applied to that
patient!!). They must also be accompanied by a Clin. Path. request
form, with the following information:
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- 1. Patient ID
2. Owner name
3. Species
4. Clinician
5. Date and time of collection
6. Test(s) requested.
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This information will be filled out by the clinician/student in
charge of the case, not the on-call Clin. Path. technician.
We currently have 2 to 3 technicians who perform the emergency clinical
pathology service. They live quite a distance away from the College,
therefore expect at least an hour delay before they can even begin
to do the work (more in winter, depending on the snow situation).
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