Calcium Serum
(Specimen Container)
SST (Tiger Top)
Lithium Heparin/ Sodium Heparin
(Transport Temperature)
| Temperature | Period |
|---|---|
| Room temperature | 7 days |
| Refrigerated | 3 weeks |
| Frozen | 8 months |
The majority of calcium in the body is present in bones. The remainder of the calcium is in serum and has various functions. For example, calcium ions decrease neuromuscular excitability, participate in blood coagulation, and activate some enzymes.
Hypercalcemia can result from hyperparathyroidism, hypervitaminosis D, multiple myeloma, and some neoplastic diseases of bone. Long-term lithium therapy has been reported to cause hyperparathyroidism in some individuals, with resulting hypercalcemia.
Hypocalcemia can result from hypoparathyroidism, hypoalbuminemia, renal insufficiency, and pancreatitis.
Calcium has traditionally been difficult to measure accurately and precisely, and a large variety of methods have been developed. Among these are flame photometry, oxalate precipitation with titration, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, EDTA chelation, and more recently calcium dye complexes which are measured spectrophotometrically. Examples of calcium dyes are o-cresolphthalein complexone and Arsenazo III, the latter being the dye used for calcium determination in this method.
7.6 – 10.4 mg/dL (0 days – 10 days)
9 – 11 mg/dL (10 days – 2 Years)
8.8 – 10.8 mg/dL (2 Years – 12 Years)
8.4 – 10.2 mg/dL (12 Years – 60 Years)
8.8 – 10.0 mg/dL (60 Years – No Max Age Limit)
