Ammonia, Blood

Overview
Department	Biochemistry
Test Code	WAMM
Synonyms	NH3
Test Availability	Monday - Sunday, testing routinely available out of hours
Turnaround Time	3 hours
Stability – Add test	Cannot be added on
Specimen Requirements
Specimen Type	Plasma
Specimen Transportation	On ice, sample must be received at lab within 15 minutes of collection.
Preferrred	4 mL EDTA (K2E) Purple-Top
Acceptable
Unacceptable	Sample not received on ice Capillary blood Highly icteric samples Moderate haemolysis
Paediatric Requirements	600uL EDTA Microtainer
Aliquot Requirements
Sample Type	Plasma
Minimum Volume	200 uL
Aliquot Transportation	Frozen
Clinical Information
Reference Intervals	Female: 11-51 umol/L Male: 16-60 umol/L
Test Method	Abbott Alinity C. Enzymatic method.
Advanced Notice	Please notify Biochemistry extension 7881
Patient Preparation	Ideally patient fasted >6 hours. No fist clenching.
Comments
Specimen must be centrifuged at 4°C IMMEDIATELY after receipt.  False high values are obtained after muscular exercise. Please notify the laboratory if patient is on Sulfasalazine/Sulfapyridine medications as these may interfere with this method