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Pathology reference ranges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

Omer Aziz ,
Sanjay Purkayastha  and
Paraskevas Paraskeva
By
Sukhmeet S. Panesar
Omer Aziz
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital, London
Sanjay Purkayastha
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital, London
Paraskevas Paraskeva
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital, London
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Summary

The interpretation of any clinical laboratory test involves an important concept in comparing the patient's results to the test's ‘reference range.’ This range is established by testing a large number of healthy people and observing what appears to be ‘normal’ for them. The results of this specific population of people are averaged and a range (±2 standard deviations of the average) of normal values is established. This incorporates 95% of the patients sampled. Some factors that influence these values are the patient's age, sex, diet, stress, anxiety and medications being taken.

Note: reference ranges are very institution dependent. These are a rough guide. Please consult your local guidelines.

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Chapter
Information
Hospital Surgery
Foundations in Surgical Practice
 , pp. 779 - 783
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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