[Histonet] RBC removal

[Min-Han Tan]

Dear fellow list members,

I have been trying to remove RBCs from bloody pleural effusions /
abdominal ascites using Histopaque, with low success, for the purpose
of cytology. Histopaque works great on blood.

I wonder if any one has successfully worked on bloody effusions /
ascites previously; they do not seem to centrifuge in as optimal a
fashion as blood, and I wonder if there are proteins / free hemoglobin
that may be altering the density somewhat. Has anyone used ACK buffer
or any other such methods to remove / lyse RBCs?

Thanks!

Regards,
Min-Han Tan