We give corrected calciums on all samples except when albumin<15 g/l. This
has met with great enthusiasm by both GPs and hospital medics.
We use the following formula:
Corrected calcium (mmol/l) = total calcium + 0.02(40 - albumin)
i.e. the measured total calcium is corrected upwards by 0.1 mmol/l for every
5 g/l that the albumin is less than 40 g/l.
The main reason for giving corrected calciums was that there was a degree of
ignorance among GPs in particular regarding total calciums and its
correction using the serum albumin concentration. We also correct our
calciums downwards for albumins > 40 g/l although this may not be an
entirely accurate thing to do??
In cases of difficulty we are lucky in having a near patient testing
instrument in ICU which measures ionized calcium.
All the best
Peter Sharpe
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|