General

Synonym/Acronym:
Red blood cell osmotic fragility, OF.

Rationale
To assess the fragility of erythrocytes related to red blood cell (RBC) lysis toward diagnosing diseases such as hemolytic anemia.

Patient Preparation
There are no food, fluid, activity, or medication restrictions unless by medical direction.

Normal Findings
(Method: Spectrophotometry) Hemolysis (unincubated) begins at 0.5% sodium chloride (NaCl) solution and is complete at 0.3% NaCl solution. Results are compared to a normal curve.

Critical Findings and Potential Interventions
N/A