Glucagon

Message

This test can only be drawn at the York Hospital Main Laboratory due to requiring immediate freezing of plasma at -70 degrees C.

Test Code

GLUCG

Quest Code

519

CPT Codes
82943

Preferred Specimen

2 mL plasma collected in an EDTA (lavender-top) tube

Patient Preparation
Overnight fasting is required

Minimum Volume

0.5 mL

Instructions

Collect EDTA plasma, invert several times to mix, centrifuge, and immediately transfer the plasma into a clean, plastic screw-cap vial and freeze. There should be no delay in freezing as the analyte is very unstable and samples must be kept frozen until testing.

Transport Container

Plastic screw-cap vial

Transport Temperature

Frozen

Specimen Stability

Room temperature: Unacceptable
Refrigerated: 2 hours
Frozen: 28 days

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

Samples received refrigerated • Gross hemolysis

Methodology
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Immunoassay (ELISA)

Setup Schedule

Set up: Mon; Report available: 7-14 days

Reference Range

11-78 pg/mL

Clinical Significance

The glucagon assay is useful primarily when considering a glucagon-secreting tumor of the pancreas. Glucagonomas cause an unusual but characteristic syndrome consisting of a rash, mild diabetes, weight loss and hypoamninoacidemia. Measurement of plasma glucagon confirms the diagnosis; glucagon levels are very high in the setting of glucagonoma.

Performing Laboratory

Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute-San Juan Capistrano, CA

33608 Ortega Highway

San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675-2042

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.