Pyruvate, Blood (Referred Out) - Saskatoon
Discipline
Biochemistry
Overview
Description
Ordering Recommendation
- Patient should be fasting (at least 4 hours).
- Whole blood Lactate shall be ordered in conjunction with blood Pyruvate collections. Specimens shall be collected at the same time. Pyruvic acid levels alone have little clinical utility.
Testing Ordering Requirements
Preferred Specimen Collection
- RUH Selective Test Centre
- RUH
Forms Required
- Requisitions must have specific test indicated
- Miscellaneous Specimen Requisition Form #101878 or Acute Care Phlebotomy Requisition Form #101062
Alias
- Pyruvic Acid
Specimen Information
Specimen types accepted
- Whole blood
Specimen collection container
- Preferred Collection Container: Plain Syringe
Collection procedure
- Call (306) 655-2089
- Chemistry Technologist-II must be present at bedside before collecting.
- Chemistry Technologist-II will assist with the collection. Collect on ice, into special collection tube containing 2.5 mL of 6% perchloric acid(T012).
Required volume
- Optimal Volume: Exactly 1.0 mL whole blood
- Minimum/Pediatric Volume: 1.0 mL whole blood
(Submitting the minimum volume makes it impossible to repeat the test or perform confirmatory/reflex testing. In some situations, a minimum volume may require a second collection)
Transport and stability
- Not stable unless collected in prechilled perchloric acid.
- Stable for 15 days when refrigerated.
- Ship refrigerated to referral laboratory.
Rejection criteria
- Room temperature specimens.
- Frozen specimens.
- Specimens received where the proper collection protocols were not followed
- Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Acceptance and Rejection Criteria
Testing Information
Relevant clinical history
- Family history
- Must include diagnosis and/or patient symptoms on the requisition
Clinical interpretation
- Abnormal concentrations of pyruvic acid, and lactate-to-pyruvate (L:P) ratios, are not diagnostic for a particular disorder but must be interpreted in the context of the patient's clinical presentation and other laboratory studies. The determination of pyruvic acid is of diagnostic value when lactic acid is measured and the L:P ratio is established in the same specimen.
- An elevated lactate-to-pyruvate (L:P) ratio may indicate inherited disorders of the respiratory chain complex, tricarboxylic acid cycle disorders and pyruvate carboxylase deficiency. Respiratory chain defects usually result in L:P ratios above 20.
- A low L:P ratio (disproportionately elevated pyruvic acid) may indicate an inherited disorder of pyruvate metabolism. Defects of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex result in L:P ratios below 10.
- The L:P ratio is characteristically normal in other patients. An artifactually high ratio can be found if the patient is acutely ill.
- Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) L:P ratio may assist in evaluation of patients with neurologic dysfunction and normal blood L:P ratios. When comparing blood and CSF L:P ratios, blood and CSF specimens should be collected at the same time.
Performance
Days/times performed
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Maximum laboratory time
Results Reporting
- 10-14 days turnaround time by referral laboratory
Last Updated: October 8, 2024