Which tubes are commonly used for lipid and hepatic panels?

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Multiple Choice

Which tubes are commonly used for lipid and hepatic panels?

Tests for lipids and liver function are chemistry tests that use serum, not plasma or whole blood. Serum comes from blood that has clotted, then is separated from the clot and cells. A serum separator tube (SST) has a gel that cleanly separates serum from cells, which helps keep the sample stable and clean for accurate chemistry analysis. A red-top tube also yields serum after clotting, but it lacks the gel; some labs use red-top if SST isn’t available. Lipids are often drawn in SST because the gel helps preserve the serum quality and minimizes interference during testing. Hepatic panels—measuring enzymes and bilirubin in the liver—are typically run on the same serum specimens, so either SST or red-top tubes are acceptable depending on the lab’s standard practices. Grey-top tubes are for glucose testing, Lavender-top are for EDTA hematology work, and Green-top tubes contain heparin for plasma chemistry; these are not the preferred choices for routine lipid and hepatic panels.

Tests for lipids and liver function are chemistry tests that use serum, not plasma or whole blood. Serum comes from blood that has clotted, then is separated from the clot and cells. A serum separator tube (SST) has a gel that cleanly separates serum from cells, which helps keep the sample stable and clean for accurate chemistry analysis. A red-top tube also yields serum after clotting, but it lacks the gel; some labs use red-top if SST isn’t available. Lipids are often drawn in SST because the gel helps preserve the serum quality and minimizes interference during testing. Hepatic panels—measuring enzymes and bilirubin in the liver—are typically run on the same serum specimens, so either SST or red-top tubes are acceptable depending on the lab’s standard practices. Grey-top tubes are for glucose testing, Lavender-top are for EDTA hematology work, and Green-top tubes contain heparin for plasma chemistry; these are not the preferred choices for routine lipid and hepatic panels.

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