What does the haemolysed sample mean for reliability of laboratory test results?

Laboratory testing is an integral part of the decision-making process and laboratory results often strongly influence medical diagnosis and therapies. Laboratory data are a major aid to clinicians and therefore must be trustworthy, which means that errors should be kept to a minimum to ensure reliable laboratory data. Haemolysed samples frequently occur in clinical laboratories. If they are not identified and managed adequately, there is a possibility of reporting erroneous results to clinicians. This article focuses on this issue, providing an overview of impact of haemolysis on laboratory test results and of the manner in which the laboratory deals with haemolysed samples. We show the influence of haemolysis on high-sensitive troponin T measurements. We conclude that the use of new technology, which can aid in detecting haemolysis, and the education of healthcare personnel, which can improve the pre-analytical phase of the laboratory process, can contribute to decreasing the number of errors and their unwanted impact on laboratory test results