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The University of Chicago Medicine Laboratories

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Mayo Clinic Laboratories

Test Code SPSA Prostate Specific Antigen, Total (Screening) 

Important Note

This test may be affected by biotin interference. Patients on high dose biotin (5mg/day or more) should not have samples drawn until at least 24 hours after the last biotin administration.

Specimen and Container/Tube

Specimen Type: Plasma

Preferred Specimen: Li-Heparin Mint Green Top

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

Volume

Preferred Volume: 4.0 mL

Minimum Volume: 0.5 mL

 

Specimen Stability

Storage Temperature

Stability

Room temperature

N/A

Refrigerated

5 days

Frozen

6 months

 

Collection Instructions

Collect specimen per standard laboratory collection procedures.

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

Total PSA

All

All

0 - 4.0 ng/mL

Critical Values

Not applicable

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

Clinical Indications

Use for screening when no disease or symptoms indicated.

Indicated for the measurement of total PSA in conjunction with digital rectal examination (DRE) as an aid in the detection of prostate cancer in men aged 50 years or older. Prostate biopsy is required for diagnosis of prostate cancer. The test is further indicated for serial measurement of PSA to aid in the management of cancer patients.

Test Components

Total PSA

Methodology

Electrochemiluminescence Immunoassay (ECLIA) (Roche) 

CPT Codes

G0103

LOINC Codes

12841-3

Synonyms/Keyword Search

Total PSA, SPSA, Screening PSA

 

Additional Information

The measured PSA value of a patient's sample can vary depending on the testing procedure used. PSA values determined on patient samples by different testing procedures cannot be directly compared with one another and could be the cause of erroneous medical interpretations. An inflammation or trauma of the prostate (e.g. in cases of urinary retention or following rectal examination, cystoscopy, coloscopy, transurethral biopsy, laser treatment or ergometry) can lead to PSA elevations of varying duration and magnitude. It is known that in rare cases PSA isoforms do exist which may be measured differently by different PSA tests. Findings of this kind have occasionally been reported for PSA tests from various manufacturers.

There is no high-dose hook effect at Total PSA concentrations up to 17,000 ng/mL.

Last Review Date

4/7/2025