W use phosphate buffer saline because that is also what we need for Immucor solid phase reagents and strips. Check the pH of your unbuffered saline and see where it comes in. Ours comes in at a pH of 5 before we buffer it. That was a surprise.

Our saline is labeled as 6.0-7.5 but when we test it with pH paper we get 8 (same from a squirt bottle, the cell-washer, the current cube and a new cube of a different lot), with a urine dipstick we get 5.5 and we get 5.0 on the IRIS used for urinalysis. I don't think we have a pH meter. Any suggestions as to which is right?

Since I have Immucor's blessed PBS I use it. Apparently the pH of our cubed saline when used as is, has stability problems and can cause erroneous reactions. Since they recommend PBS, best to go with what they think is best.

Our saline is labeled as 6.0-7.5 but when we test it with pH paper we get 8 (same from a squirt bottle, the cell-washer, the current cube and a new cube of a different lot), with a urine dipstick we get 5.5 and we get 5.0 on the IRIS used for urinalysis. I don't think we have a pH meter. Any suggestions as to which is right?

No pH meter here either - but our pH paper gives a reaction of 5 and it is tested against a stable "set pH" fluid from pathology, so I think it is OK. Never though of the UA dipsticks. Good idea.

Mabel, were you getting false positives with the previous version of the Immucor kit as recently as the fourth quarter of 2012? We found we had a problem with only one lot over one year ago. We were doing KB's on the positives, only to see no fetal cells on the KB. That is when we contacted Immucor. It has been fine since.

Also, as others have pointed out, the test is *very* sensitive to pH.

Edited March 3, 201312 yr by EDibble
Added info

The false positives that I saw with Immucor were sometime between 2005 and 2008 at my old workplace as I recall. It was also during this time that some people had problems with a CAP survey specimen using the Immucor kit. We have used the Ortho kit for close to 2 years now. When it came out, I both wanted to avoid the false positives that had been a problem with Immucor's kit earlier and save money because we don't buy much from Immucor so paid more for what we did buy. Because we have had problems with the positive control failing on the Ortho kit, I am looking again at the new Immucor kit.

Is anyone finding the FMH Screen very sensitive?

Thanks for any input!

Is anyone finding the FMH Screen very sensitive?

Thanks for any input!

 

We like the new kit. Quicker and the rosettes are larger making the test easier to read.