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Test Code FE Iron

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.
  • Li-Heparin Plasma and Serum 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

Iron

All

All

40 - 160 μg/dL

 

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

Critical Values

Analyte

Unit

Low

High

Age

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

CPT Codes

83540

LOINC Codes

2498-4

Volume

Preferred Volume: 0.5 mL

Minimum Volume: 0.2 mL

Specimen Stability

Storage Temperature

Stability

Room temperature

7 days

Refrigerated

3 weeks

Frozen

2 years

Collection Instructions

Collect specimen per standard laboratory collection procedures. 

 

Test Components

Iron
 

Clinical Indications

Iron determinations are performed for the diagnosis and monitoring of microcytic anemia (e.g. due to iron metabolism disorders and hemoglobinopathy), macrocytic anemia (e.g. due to vitamin B12-deficiency, folic acid deficiency and drug-induced metabolic disorders of unknown origin) as well as normocytic anemias such as renal anemia (erythropoetin deficiency), hemolytic anemia, hemoglobinopathy, bone marrow disease and toxic bone marrow damage.

Methodology

Endpoint Colorimetric (Ferrozine) Method, (Roche Diagnostics)

Additional Information

  • Results should always be assessed in conjunction with patient's medical history, clinical examination and other findings.
  • Avoid hemolyzed samples. higher hemoglobin concentrations lead to artifically increased values due to contamination of the sample with hemoglobin-bound iron.
  • In patients treated with iron supplements or metal-binding drugs, the drug-bound iron may not properly react in the test, resulting in artifically low values.
  • In the presence of high ferritin concentrations (greater than 1200 μg/L) the assumption that serum iron is almost completely bound to transferrin is not valid anymore. Therefore, such iron results should not be used to calculate Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) or percent transferrin saturation (% SAT).
  • Included in the Iron Panel FET

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

Transferring Saturation (% SAT), Total Iron-Binding Capacity (TIBC), Iron (Fe)

Last Review Date

1/26/2023

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