A Dried Blood Spot is made when capillary blood is put onto a marked filter card and dried in air, after which the card can be sent in an ordinary envelope. There is no liquid to spill, so the shipping rules are simpler and the sample tolerates more time and temperature than a tube does.
The trade is a shorter parameter list and a stronger dependence on how well the customer fills the card. A partly filled circle or a smeared card gives a laboratory too little material, so the printed instructions and the card design matter as much as the analysis afterwards.
Ask a supplier what happens when a card comes back badly filled.
- Which parameters does the supplier report from a Dried Blood Spot, and on which method?
- Are the reference ranges specific to this method, or are venous ranges reused instead?
- What happens when a card is filled badly, and who pays for the repeat kit?
- How is the card packed and returned, and which postal route is used for it?
In this glossary, Kapillarblut explains where the blood on the card comes from, Präanalytik covers the handling that decides whether a card is usable, and Referenzbereich describes the ranges a result is compared with.
This glossary entry is general information, not medical advice, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat or rule out any condition. Discuss your own results with a clinician who knows your history.
