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Test Code CA Calcium

Specimen and Container/Tube

Specimen Type: Plasma

Preferred Specimen: Li-Heparin Mint Green Top

Other Acceptable specimens: Serum/Gold Top, Serum/Red Top

Specimen Handling and Transport Instructions

UCMC Onsite Instructions: 

Collect specimen per standard collection procedure and send to laboratory immediately. 

 

UCMC Offsite and UC MedLab Outreach Instructions: 

  • Samples should be centrifuged within 2 hours of collection.
  • Centrifuge specimens at >2500 x g for 10 minutes at room temperature.
  • Aliquot sample into plastic transport tube containing a minimum of 0.2 mL of specimen.
  • Samples must be sent room temperature at 15-25oC.

Rejection Criteria

  • Common specimen rejected situations include: incorrect specimen type, insufficient volume, missing or incomplete specimen identifiers, incorrect specimen transport, or specimens outside stability limits. 
  • Specimens that are clotted or grossly hemolyzed.
  • Specimens that were transported unspun/whole blood and draw time is greater than 6 hours.

Reference Values

 

Test

Age

Sex

Reference Range

Calcium

All

All

8.4-10.2 mg/dL

Note: Reference range based on in-house studies, recommendations from Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry, and Roche product literature. 

Critical Values

Analyte

Unit

Low

High

Age

Calcium

mg/dL

<6.0

>13.0

All

CPT Codes

82310

LOINC Codes

17861-6

Volume

Preferred Volume: 0.5 mL

Minimum Volume: 0.2 mL

Specimen Stability

Storage Temperature

Stability

Room temperature

7 days

Refrigerated

3 weeks

Frozen

8 months

Collection Instructions

Collect specimen per standard laboratory collection procedures. 

 

Test Components

Calcium
 

Clinical Indications

The test is used for the diagnosis and monitoring of hypocalcemia (calcium deficiency) and hypercalcemia (excess calcium) in serum.

Methodology

Spectrophotometric (with 5-nitro-5'-methyl-BAPTA) (Roche Diagnostics)

Additional Information

  • Results should always be assessed in conjunction with patient's medical history, clinical examination and other findings.
  • Serum or plasma should be separated from blood cells as soon as possible, because prolonged contact with the clot may cause lower calcium values.
  • Sera from patients receiving EDTA (treatment of hypercalcemia) are unsuitable for analysis, since EDTA will chelate the calcium and render it unavaliable for reaction with NM-BAPTA.
  • Drugs containing strontium salts may lead to significantly increased calcium results.
  • Intravenously administered contrast media for MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) contain chelating complexes which may interfere with the determination of calcium.
  • A sharp decrease in calcium values was observed when gadodiamide (GdDTPA-BMA) was administered. Follow the instructions of the manufacturer with regard to the retention time of the contrast medium.
  • Also included in CPNL, KPNL, RPNL, SSTCP, SSTKP, STKG

Turnaround Time

Turnaround times are relative to the time the specimen is received in the test laboratory. 

 

STAT Turnaround Time: 1 hour

Routine Turnaround Time: 4 hours

Testing Schedule: 24/7

Synonyms/Keyword Search

Calcium, Total

Last Review Date

8/19/2024

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