Laboratory Medicine
Test Directory / Phenytoin
Phenytoin
Brown clotted serum, gel barrier or lithium heparin
| Test | Phenytoin |
|---|---|
| Common Abbreviations | Epanutin, PHT |
| Profile | NA |
| Tube type | Brown clotted serum, gel barrier or lithium heparin |
| Clinical Indication | Phenytoin is one of the most widely prescribed anti convulsant drugs for the treatment of epilepsy particularly grand mal epilepsy, cortical focal seizures and temporal lobe epilepsy. Measured to check therapeutic levels and compliance. |
| Specimen Type | Blood |
| Sample type | Serum or plasma |
| Minimum Volume | 0.5mL If requesting more than 10 tests please send an additional brown clotted serum sample. |
| Special Precautions | No special requirements |
| Stability | 4 days at 2-25C in capped samples |
| Turnaround Time | Inpatient: 6 hours Outpatient/ GP: 24 hours |
| Laboratory | York |
| Reference Interval | Therapeutic Range: 5-20 mg/L (Recommended by the Pathology Harmonisation Reference Group) |
| Limitations | Samples containing antibodies to E. coli ?-galactosidase may result in artificially high results which will not fit the clinical profile. The incidence of patients having such antibodies is extremely low. As with any assay employing mouse antibodies, the possibility exists for interference by human anti-mouse antibodies (HAMA) in the sample, which could cause falsely elevated results. |
| Notes |
