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Calcium (CA4)

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EPIC Test Name

CALCIUM

EPIC Code

LAB53

Specimen Requirements

plasma
Minimum Volume:0.5 mL
Collection:Collect specimens using standard laboratory procedures.
Transport:Room Temperature ASAP
Stability:Room Temperature: 7 days at 20-25 degrees C
Refrigerated: 21 days at 2-8 degrees C
Frozen: 8 months at -15 to -25 degrees C
Container:LIT_GRN
Rejection Causes:Hemolysis,
Insufficient Sample Volume

Methods

Colorimetric assay with endpoint determination

Turnaround Time

SpecimenTurnaround TimeFrequency
plasmaStat: 90 minutes Routine: 4 hours24/7

Reference Ranges

Colorimetric assay with endpoint determination
AgeAll RangeUnitCritical Values
0 days up to 11 days7.6-10.4 mg/dLmg/dL0-28 days old: <6.5 and >11.0 mg/dL
11 days up to 3 years9.0-11.0 mg/dL>28 days old: <6.0 and >13.0 mg/dL
3 years up to 13 years8.8-10.8 mg/dL
13 years up to 19 years8.4-10.2 mg/dL
19 years up to 61 years8.6-10.0 mg/dL
61 years up to 91 years8.8-10.2 mg/dL
91 years up to 999 years8.2-9.6 mg/dL

Clinical Indications

Calcium is an essential mineral required for bone formation and normal function of the body. In the body, about 99 % of the total body calcium is sequestered in the skeletal system and teeth, and the remaining 1 % exists extracellularly and intracellularly. Intracellular calcium plays a role in muscle contraction, hormone secretion as a second messenger, glycogen metabolism, enzyme activity and cell division and others. Extracellularly, calcium plays a role in blood coagulation, enzyme activity and bone mineralization and others. In the circulation, calcium exists in three different fractions, anion-bound, protein-bound and free or ”ionized”, the sum of these three fraction is the total Calcium that is measured in the serum or plasma of patient samples.

Performed

Lab
Chemistry - Downtown
Chemistry - Community
Verona Cancer Center

Interpretative Information

Hypocalcemia is often caused by malfunction of the parathyroid glands, vitamin-D deficiency, chronic renal failure, hyperphosphatemia. Hypocalcemia in adult can cause osteomalacia.
Hypercalcemia can be due to increased mobilization of calcium from the skeletal system or increased absorption. Hypercalcemia mainly occurs to patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) or bone metastasis of carcinoma of the breast, prostate, thyroid gland, or lung.

CPT

82310

LOINC

17861-6

References

Rifai N, Horvath AR, Wittwer CT, eds. Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics. 6th ed. Elsevier; 2018.

Contact Information

Chemistry - Downtown: (315)464-4460
Chemistry - Community: (315)492-5531
Verona Cancer Center: (315)473-3859
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