QuestionHello,
I am a phlebotomy student that has to make flashcards of all different tests. I have not been able to find information about lupus erythematosus cell prep or chemistry panel 6,8, or 12. I need to know the abbreviation, what color tube, what department processes it, any special drawing instructions, and what the clinical correlation is. Do you know where I can find that information?
Thank you,
Sandra
AnswerHello, how are you? In my experience, all those test can be collected with a red top tube or a marble tube with serum separator. But the type of tube drawn may differ between individual labs, because of many different factors such as sample population and lab test method.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is a disease of protean clinical manifestations commonly seen with rash, arthralgia, fever, anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and hypocomplementemia, occuring especially in women. SLE is a autoimmune disease, so in my experience. The LE cell prep is not commonly used nowadays I think, because of it's low accuracy, Anti-nuclear testing is usually the test methold. As for which department, I am not sure because I have always shipped out these tests to reference labs. But I would say this test is in the immunology/serology department.
As for the chem panels, they're just basic liver, kidney, electrolytes panels. They also include sodium and glucose. The numbers just corresponds to the number of analytes tested. In my experience the Chem 6,8, 12 names are not commonly used. Chem 6 and 8 can be also called a basic metabolic panel (BMP). And chem 14 or 12 can be called complete metabolic panel (CMP). They are all done in the chemistry department. I am sure you can find more information about this posted all over the internet. Good luck in your studies.
