CALCITONIN:
Why Calcitonin Test ?
CLINICALINFORMATION
Calcitonin test helps to screen diagnose C-cell hyperplasia and medullary thyroid cancer, recurrence of thyroid cancer and prognosis of treatment modalities. C-cells (parafollicular cells) in the thyroid gland produce and release calcitonin. Calcium and phosphate homeostasis is achieved by the action of calcitonin and parathyroid hormone. The hormone calcitonin opposes the action of parathyroid hormone. The function of calcitonin is to lower the concentration of calcium levels in blood. Higher levels of calcitonin are also found to decrease the phosphorus in blood. Some of the clinical manifestation of higher calcitonin may be runny nose, nose bleeding, dryness, redness or swelling of the nose, sinus pain, back pain, joint pain, flushing etc. Moreover procalcitonin (PCT) is an acute phase reactant - biomarker which helps to identify patients with sepsis (characterized by whole body inflammation in response to microbial infection that leads to organ dysfunction) in diagnosis of bacterial infection that determines the therapeutic approaches for sepsis. Procalcitonin is a precursor of calcitonin – a protein substance produced by many types of cells in the body (parafollicular cells of the thyroid and by neuroendocrine cells of the lung and intestine), most often in response to bacterial infections and also in response to tissue injury. Hence, the level of calcitonin is an excellent marker for bacterial infections, sepsis, organ rejection, respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, meningitis, gastro-intestinal disease, kidney disease, bacterial infection in neutropenic patients, hepatitis, septic arthritis, septic shock, cancer, pediatrics (renal involvement of urinary tract infection in children) and prognosis.
General Instructions:
Sample Requirement: Specimen - Blood sample collected from the vein. Test Preparation: None.
NOTE - Sample for specimen collections may vary based on the patient’s condition / cases according to patient’s presenting complaints / signs or symptoms:
SPECIMEN REQUIREMENT (Special or Rare Cases) - As instructed and guided by Physician / Clinician / Pathologist / as per Laboratory’s requirements, according to procedures and protocols.
Sample Requirement: Blood Sample taken from the vein
Test Preparation: Overnight fasting
This Multi-Specialty Clinical Referral Laboratory RT DIAGNOSTICS provides precise and accuracy tests with an extensive range of testing service to the medical centers to help in the diagnosis and identification of pathology in the test specimens for infectious diseases and also to evaluate the function of organ systems of the patient. It prevents further complications and helps to stabilize and restore health to near normalcy at the earliest without delay.
