Assessment of hemolysis in serum samples.

All serum samples exhibiting pink discoloration were found to be strongly affected by hemolysis for microRNA profiling according to the miR ratio. After exclusion of the visibly hemolyzed samples, samples with absorbance at 414 nm of >0.3 are also likely to be have miR ratio >7, predicting severe hemolysis. In contrast, samples with an absorbance at 414 nm of <0.072 are predicted to have a miR ratio <5. Samples meeting these criteria may be excluded from miR ratio for the purpose of determining hemolysis; however, the miR ratio should be determined for samples with absorbance between 0.072 and 0.3. PPV and NPV refer to positive and negative predictive values after removal of visibly hemolyzed or cloudy samples, respectively.