Preanalytical aspects on short- and long-term storage of serum and plasma

Following an ordered clinical chemistry plasma/serum test, ideally the venous blood specimen is adequately collected at a health care facility, then swiftly transported to and readily handled, analyzed and sometimes interpreted at a clinical chemistry laboratory followed by a report of the test result to the ordering physician to finally handle the result. However, often there are practical as well as sample quality reasons for short-or long-term storage of samples before and after analysis. If there are specific storage needs, the preanalytical handling practices are specified in the laboratory's specimen collection instructions for the ordered test analyte. Biobanking of specimens over a very long time prior to analysis includes an often neglected preanalytical challenge for preserved quality of the blood specimen and also involves administrative and additional practical handling aspects (specified in a standard operating procedure SOP) when demands and considerations from academic, industry, research organizations and authorities are included. This short review highlights some preanalytical aspects of plasma/serum short-and long-term storage that must be considered by clinicians, laboratory staff as well as the researchers.