Misc Gel Reactivity: Grrr!

[kharbert]

I went to an Ortho-hosted workshop 2-3 years ago and they addressed the pos screen, negative panel issue. Their advice centered on the possibility that the problem is deterioration of the screen cells, so they recommended not leaving the cells out on the counter for more than a set time and protecting the cells from light. I don't remember the particulars, but the attendees who had adopted those practices thought that they helped. Would Ortho be able to give you details? (But I'm guess you already contacted Ortho)

Oh, so sorry and embarrassed--I just saw that my post duplicates the previous one. Apologies!!

[mla]

We were having the same problems with (forgive the term) nonspecific reactivity. We started aliquoting our 0.8% screening cells. We take out just enough to get through a 24 hour period. It has really helped cut down on those crazy reactions.

[KKidd]

We too have seen these troublesome reactions with Ortho Screening 0.8% Cel 2. Mostly as the vials are getting old. It makes a tremendous difference to protect these vials from light and refrigerate when not in use. If I get these reactions, I will take out a new set of screening cells and most of the time the reation is not there.

I have 2 racks of reagents and switch out the screening cells after 2 weeks of use. New bottles of the same lot are opened and the old ones are kept until the expiration date just in case they are needed. This has cut down on those troublesome reactions.

:whisper::whisper::bye:

[Joanne P. Scannell]

Ortho had addressed this problem a while ago, suggesting we keep our reagent red cells in the dark. It sort of makes sense ... the screening cells are out in the lights most of the time and the panel cells are not ... same diluent, different reactions.

Anyway, we got some plastic 'sleeves' from a local vendor for the bottles (Wescott Laboratory Solutions) and we don't seem to be plagued by 'Antibody Screen Positive/ Panel negative' issues. Yes, the sleeve covers the outside of the bottle, but we put the reagent number on the cap so we can see which cell it is. You can take the bottle out and look at it very easily when you need to.

As far as 'random' positives on screening cells AND panel cells ... MTS is more sensitive to HLA Antibodies than tube testing. If MTS Antibody Screen results are less than 2+, we run the MTS panel 'maxtime'. If we get extraneous similarly weak random results and no possible antibody ID, it's an HLA or HTLA antibody. If you are nervous about that, repeat the screen using tube testing ... it will be gone and real clinically significant antibodies should still be there.

[HWalker]

We had the same problem, then we followed Orthos' advice.

We kept the screening cells in their original box and refrigerated when not in use. There hasn't been a problem since we began doing those 2 things.

We were :mad:, now we are :rolleyes::cool:.

Good luck.

Hank

[jlemmons]

We found that if we kept out screening cells out at room temperature all day or on the ProVue all day, we got more of the Cell II positive issue. We have tried switching them out every 4-8 hours and that seems to have cut down on the problem. The cells seem to like the cold and the dark more than light and warm. (Maybe they were born in Alaska) Just a thought to try.