Specimen Type/Volume

2 mL EDTA blood per donor and 3-5 mL serum from the recipient.

Shipping Information

Ship in insulated container with freezer packs. Do not place EDTA blood samples directly on freezer packs to avoid hemolysis.

Collection Protocol

Testing requires 3 - 5 mL of serum from the recipient and 2 mL of EDTA blood from each donor.

Additional Information

The purpose of the major crossmatch is to detect the presence of antibodies in the recipient serum against the red blood cells of the donor. An incompatible transfusion can result in severe hemolytic anemia and even death. Testing requires 1 setup charge (code: crx) along with a crossmatch fee (code: crxk9) for each donor sample. A crossmatch is performed prior to administration of blood or blood products (e.g., packed red blood cells). Testing needs to be prearranged with the clinical pathology lab. Staff overtime charges incurred due to the processing or testing of time-sensitive samples arriving late in the day will be billed to the client.