Specimen Requirements
Title
Vitamin A (Retinol)
Specimen Requirement
Collect SST/0.8 mL serum, after 30 minutes of clotting, promptly centrifuge and send.
Patient preparation:
Patient should abstain from alcohol for 24 hours prior to collection. For those who are younger than six months, draw prior to next feeding. Blood should be collected before breakfast in the morning and prior to any medication.
Methodology
High Performance Liquid Chromatography
Stability
Room temp: 7 days, Refrigerated: 14 days, Frozen: 14 days
Reference Range
The reference range is determined by the performing laboratory and will show on the report.
Turnaround
4-5 days
Clinical Use
Differential diagnosis of hypervitaminosis A. A combination of a low serum carotene level and a low vitamin A suggests inadequate vitamin A nutrition.
Test Code
VITA