Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Lab, LLC

 

Test Ordering Code: 1084

CPT Codes: 87522

Turnaround Time:

5 - 7 business days

Specimen:

1mL minimum serum or plasma

Blood should be collected in EDTA tubes or BD SST Serum Separator tubes. Separate plasma from blood within 6 hours of collection. Place plasma/serum in a sterile polypropylene screw-cap tube. Samples may stored at 2 - 8°C for up to 3 days or frozen at -20 to -80°C.

Clinical Significance:

It is estimated that 4,000,000 people in the United States are infected with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). The most prevalent genotypes in the U.S. are 1 (70%), 2 (14%), and 3 (11%). Approximately 80% of individuals with HCV become chronically infected and are likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver or hepatocellular carcinoma. HCV is the leading cause for liver transplants and is responsible for 8,000 - 10,000 deaths annually. Testing for the viral load can help determine the likelihood of a patient responding to treatment or if a patient is responding to current treatment.

Indications for Testing:

Confirm Infection

Determining the likelihood of success for therapy

Determining patient response to therapy

Methodology:

Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction

Reporting of Results:

International Units (IU)/mL, Log10 IU/mL

Quantitative Range :

25-20,000,000 IU/mL (1.4 - 6.3 Log10 IU/mL