Test Code SOMIS-;Catecholamines Catecholamines Fractionated, Plasma

Important Note

This testing should only be collected at Main hospital locations (BMH, BBC, BLH and BSH) and sent out by BMH Sendouts. Please contact Bronson sendouts department with questions.

269-341-8488

*DO NOT COLLECT AT OFF-SITE LABS*

Additional Codes

CATE PF

0080216

Also Known as:

Dopamine

Epinephrine

Norepinephrine

Specimen Requirements

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. Drugs and medications may affect results and should be discontinued for 72 hours prior to specimen collection, if possible.

Collect

Green (sodium or lithium heparin) OR lavender (EDTA). Immediately place on ice.

Specimen Preparation

Specimen should be centrifuged and frozen within one hour (refrigerated centrifuge is preferred but not required).

Transfer 3 mL plasma to an Aliquot tube

Minimum Volume: 1.1 mL

Storage/Transport Temperature

STRICT FROZEN

Specimen Stability

Stability

After separation from cells:

Ambient: Unacceptable

Refrigerated: Unacceptable

Frozen: 1 month

Specimen Rejection Criteria

Rejections due to:

Non-Frozen samples

Serum or Urine

Useful For

Not recommended for evaluation of pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma. Use to evaluate clinical symptoms of excess catecholamine secretion. For the assessment of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, refer to Metanephrines, Plasma (Free) (0050184) or Metanephrines Fractionated by HPLC-MS/MS, Urine (2007996).

Methodology

Quantitative High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Reference Ranges

Test Number

Components

Reference Interval

Dopamine

18 years and older
Seated (15 min)	Less than or equal to 240 pmol/L

Epinephrine

18 years and older
Seated (15 min)	Less than or equal to 330 pmol/L

Norepinephrine

18 years and older
Seated (15 min)	1050-4800 pmol/L

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

Interpretive

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).

Day(s) Performed

Sun-Sat

Expected TAT

1-5 days

Performing Laboratory

ARUP Laboratories

CPT Code

82384

LOINC Code