Viral Respiratory, Rapid Culture with Reflex (VRRCR)

Test Code

LAB4567

Quest Code

14867

CPT Codes
87254

Includes

If Viral Respiratory, Rapid Culture Screen is Positive, then Rapid Respiratory Viruses identification will be performed at an additional charge (CPT codes(s): 87140 x7)

Preferred Specimen

3 mL nasopharyngeal aspirate/washing or nasopharyngeal swab collected in VCM medium or equivalent

Minimum Volume

1 mL

Other Acceptable Specimens

Throat swabs or bronchial lavage/swab (BAL) collected in VCM medium or equivalent

Instructions

To maintain optimum viability, place swab or fluid into VCM (equal volumes of fluid and VCM) or equivalent and transport the specimen to the laboratory as soon as possible. Best recovery is obtained when the specimens are refrigerated at 2-8° C or kept on wet ice following collection and while in transit. If there will be a long delay before processing, specimens in VCM or equivalent should be frozen at -70° C or colder and transported on dry ice. Storage or transport at -20° C is not acceptable.

Transport Container

VCM medium or equivalent

Transport Temperature

Refrigerated (cold packs)

Specimen Stability

Room temperature: Unacceptable
Refrigerated: 4 days
Frozen -20° C: Unacceptable
Frozen -70° C: 30 days

Reject Criteria (Eg, hemolysis? Lipemia? Thaw/Other?)

Specimen in non-viral transport medium such as nucleic acid or bacterial transport media • Non-respiratory specimens (other than conjunctival specimens ordered for adenovirus culture only) • Swabs not in VCM or equivalent • Specimen in formalin or other fixatives • Unpreserved specimen

Methodology
Centrifuge Enhanced Culture • Immunofluorescence Stain

Setup Schedule

7am Monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday

Report Available

7 days

Clinical Significance

Respiratory viruses are responsible for a significant proportion of illness in human populations. Diagnosis may facilitate appropriate selection of specific antiviral drug therapy, prevent inappropriate use of antibiotics and guide patient management decisions.

Performing Laboratory

Quest Diagnostics - South Region

The CPT Codes provided in this document are based on AMA guidelines and are for informational purposes only. CPT coding is the sole responsibility of the billing party. Please direct any questions regarding coding to the payor being billed. Any Profile/panel component may be ordered separately. Reflex tests are performed at an additional charge.