Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Quantitative, RNA (Abbott® RealTime)

TEST: 551300
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CPT: 87522
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Synonyms

  • Viral Load, Abbott, Real-time

Expected Turnaround Time

3 - 7 days

Turnaround time is defined as the usual number of days from the date of pickup of a specimen for testing to when the result is released to the ordering provider. In some cases, additional time should be allowed for additional confirmatory or additional reflex tests. Testing schedules may vary.

Related Information

Related Documents

Specimen Requirements

Specimen

Serum or plasma

Volume

2 mL

Minimum Volume

1 mL (Note: This volume does not allow for repeat testing.)

Container

Collect specimen in red-top, serum separator (SST), lavender-top (EDTA), PPT™ or yellow-top (ACD-A) tubes. Ship in a screw-cap polypropylene frozen transport tube, centrifuged serum separator tube (SST) or centrifuged PPT™ tubes.

Collection

Collect specimen in red-top, serum separator (SST), lavender-top (EDTA), PPT™ or yellow-top (ACD-A) tubes. Centrifuge specimen. If drawn in a red-top, EDTA or ACD, the serum or plasma must be transferred to a screw-cap polypropylene transport tube and frozen. Whole-blood specimen may be held at room temperature for four hours or refrigerated for 72 hours prior to centrifugation. Serum and plasma specimens may be stored at room temperature for 20 hours, refrigerated 72 hours, frozen at -20°C for 60 days or -70°C long term. Ship frozen on dry ice. To avoid delays in turnaround time when requesting multiple tests on frozen samples, please submit separate frozen specimens for each test requested.

Storage Instructions

Freeze.

Stability Requirements

Temperature

Period

Room temperature

20 hours (stability provided by manufacturer or literature reference)

Refrigerated

72 hours (stability provided by manufacturer or literature reference)

Combined room temperature and refrigerated storage times must not exceed 72 hours.

Frozen

-20°C up to 60 days (stability provided by manufacturer or literature reference)

-70°C long term (stability provided by manufacturer or literature reference)

Freeze/thaw cycles

Stable x0

Causes for Rejection

Hemolysis; plasma other than EDTA or ACD-A; specimen received in a "pop-top" or "snap-cap" tube; quantity not sufficient for analysis; whole blood; frozen glass tubes

Test Details

Use

This test is used to determine the number of international units (IU) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA per milliliter of serum or plasma in known HCV-positive patients.

Limitations

Assay range: 12 IU/mL to 100,000,000 IU/mL

Methodology

Abbott Alinity m HCV assay

References

Huang S, Salituro J, Tang N, et al. Thermodynamically modulated partially double-stranded linear DNA probe design for homogeneous real-time PCR. Nucleic Acids Res. 2007; 35(16):e101. 17693434
Tang N, Huang S, Salituro J, et al. A realtime HIV-1 viral load assay for automated quantitation of HIV-1 RNA in genetically diverse group M subtypes A-H, group O and group N samples. J Virol Methods. 2007 Dec; 146(1-2):236-245. 17707519
Vermehren J, Yu ML, Monto A, et al. Multi-center evaluation of the Abbott RealTime HCV assay for monitoring patients undergoing antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C. J Clin Virol. 2011 Oct; 52(2):133-137. 21803650

LOINC® Map

Order Code Order Code Name Order Loinc Result Code Result Code Name UofM Result LOINC
551300 HCV RealTime Abbott 11011-4 000000
551300 HCV RealTime Abbott 551301 Hepatitis C Quantitation IU/mL 11011-4
551300 HCV RealTime Abbott 551302 HCV log10 log10 IU/mL 38180-6
551300 HCV RealTime Abbott 551304 Test Information: N/A

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The LOINC® codes are copyright © 1994-2021, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) Committee. Permission is granted in perpetuity, without payment of license fees or royalties, to use, copy, or distribute the LOINC® codes for any commercial or non-commercial purpose, subject to the terms under the license agreement found at https://loinc.org/license/. Additional information regarding LOINC® codes can be found at LOINC.org, including the LOINC Manual, which can be downloaded at LOINC.org/downloads/files/LOINCManual.pdf