Necessary Information

The biopsied site of each specimen must be identified as from a lymph node or non-lymph node source, and the specific biopsy site must be clearly identified in LIS or on batch sheet.

Specimen Required

Patient Preparation: For 12 hours before specimen collection do not take multivitamins or dietary supplements containing biotin (vitamin B7), which is commonly found in hair, skin, and nail supplements and multivitamins.

Collection Container/Tube: Plain, plastic, screw-top tube

Specimen Volume: 1 to 1.5 mL

Collection Instructions:

1. Needle wash specimens for analysis should be collected in conjunction with cytology specimens.

2. Have saline available prior to start of procedure. Saline is the only acceptable solution for needle washings.

3. After each fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) has been collected and the material in the needle has been expelled onto a slide for cytologic analysis, attach the used FNAB needle to an empty syringe.

4. Withdraw between 0.10 mL and 0.25 mL of saline up through the needle until the saline starts to fill the hub of the needle or end of the syringe.

5. Expel this fluid back through the needle into a separate plastic screw-top tube. This is the needle washing used for analysis.

6. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each needle pass of the same biopsied site and empty into the same tube, accumulating a total of 0.5 mL to 1.5 mL of fluid to send to the laboratory. (If more than 1 site is biopsied, see Additional Information)

7. Inspect specimen for visible blood or tissue contamination:

 a. If bloody, centrifuge specimen and transfer supernatant to a new plastic aliquot tube (5-mL standard tube) prior to sending to laboratory. The supernatant, not the cellular material, is used for analysis.

 b. If specimen is clear, centrifugation is not necessary.

Additional Information

1. If more than 1 site is biopsied, each washing material should be submitted on a separate tube and under a different order number.

2. A minimum of 0.5 mL is required for testing; however, the total collection volume should not exceed 1.5 mL. Specimen volumes outside these parameters may be rejected.

3. Do not send a saline control. This test has been validated to rule-out saline matrix effect.