Which of the following anticoagulant is used for electrolyte estimation?
(A) EDTA (B) Citrate (C) Sodium fluoride (D) Lithium heparin
(D) Ans. d. Lithium heparin Lithium heparin is the anticoagulant used for electrolyte estimation.Lithium-heparin is the preferred anticoagulant for hematology in non-mammalians because EDTA causes in vitro hemolysis in some amphibian, reptile, and fish species; moreover, plasma harvested from blood anticoagulated with lithium-heparin can be used for routine chemistry/electrolyte analysis, which is especially advantageous with small sample volumes."Commonly used anticoagulants are heparin, EDTA, oxalates, citrate and fluoride. Of these, lithium heparin is best suited for most of the biochemical estimations. All other anticoagulants the/ate calcium and hence unsuitable for calcium estimation. The possibility of enzyme inhibition especially creatine kinase, ALP, ACP, amylase and LDH are observed with several of these anticoagulants. Oxalates are unsuitable for estimation of sodium and potassium also."-