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HelpEpic Test Code LAB870 Catecholamines, Fractionated, Plasma
Additional Codes
ARUP: 0080216
Ordering Recommendation
Not recommended for evaluation of pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma. Use to evaluate clinical symptoms of excess catecholamine secretion.
Specimen Type
Plasma
Collection Container
Sodium heparin (green-top) tube (2)
Alternate Container
Plasma collected in a lithium heparin (green-top) tube, or Lavender (EDTA)
Patient Preparation
Patient should be calm and seated for 15 minutes prior to collection. Alternately, patient may be calm and supine for 30 minutes prior to collection. For optimum assessment, patient should be supine for 30 minutes prior to specimen collection. Drugs and medications may affect results and should be discontinued for 72 hours prior to specimen collection, if possible.
Collection Instructions
After drawing specimen, place green-top tube in an ice bath. Specimen should be centrifuged within one hour of draw.
Specimen Volume
3 mL
Transport Temperature
CRITICAL FROZEN
Specimen Stability
Room temperature: Unacceptable
Refrigerated: Unacceptable
Frozen at -20 C: One Month
Days of Analysis
Sun-Sat
Turn Around Time
1-4 days
Reference Range
| Components | Reference Interval | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dopamine |
|
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| Epinephrine |
|
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| Norepinephrine |
|
| Supine Reference Intervals | |
|---|---|
| Dopamine | Less than or equal to 240 pmol/L |
| Epinephrine | Less than or equal to 265 pmol/L |
| Norepinephrine | 680-3100 pmol/L |
Compliance Category
Laboratory Developed Test (LDT)
Includes
Dopamine, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine and Total Catecholamines (calculated)
Methodology
Quantitative High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Interpretive Data
Small increases in catecholamines (less than 2 times the upper reference limit) are usually the result of physiological stimuli, drugs, or improper specimen collection. Significant elevation of one or more catecholamines (2 or more times the upper reference limit) can result from a neuroendocrine tumor. Measurement of plasma or urine fractionated metanephrines should be used for assessment of suspected pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma.
Lower catecholamine concentrations are observed in specimens collected from supine adults.
To convert to picograms per milliliter (pg/mL), multiply the reported concentration for dopamine by 0.153, epinephrine by 0.183, and norepinephrine by 0.169
Access complete set of age- and/or gender-specific reference intervals for this test in the ARUP Laboratory Test Directory (aruplab.com).
Last Updated
22-OCT-2024 MS
CPT Code
82384