Identification of patients with essential fatty acid deficiency, evaluation of nutritional status, and diet monitoring.

• Patient must fast overnight for 12-14 hours
  • Fasting for a blood test
• Patient must not consume any alcohol for 24 hours prior to collection

Red serum vial/tube, 5 mL

1. Allow sample to clot
2. Spin
3. Transfer serum to a Transfer vial/tube with cap - 12mL (LabCorp), labelled as serum, within 45 minutes of specimen collection
4. Freeze

Screw-cap polypropylene frozen transport vial/tube - 4mL (LabCorp)

Gold serum separator (SST) tube

Lavender (EDTA), 4mL

Dk green heparin (Li or Na), no gel

Gold

Immediately following collection, thoroughly mix sample by gently inverting 5 times

Lavender/Dk green

Immediately following collection, mix sample thoroughly by gently inverting 5 - 10 times, to prevent clotting

Gold

1. Allow sample to clot for a minimum of 30 minutes
2. Spin
3. Transfer serum to a Screw-cap polypropylene frozen transport vial/tube - 4mL (LabCorp), labelled as serum, within 45 minutes of sample collection
4. Freeze

Lavender/Dk green

1. Spin
2. Transfer plasma to a Screw-cap polypropylene frozen transport vial/tube - 4mL (LabCorp), labelled as the appropriate plasma type, within 45 minutes of sample collection
3. Freeze

Include information regarding:

• Treatment,
• Family history 
• Tentative diagnosis

Frozen (preferred) - 3 months

Refrigerated - 1 week

Ambient - 48 hours

• Grossly hemolyzed specimens
• Icteric specimens
• Lipemic specimens
• Non-fasting specimens

Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

An interpretive report will be provided