After consultation with our clinical partners, Spectrum Health West Michigan Laboratory will be adjusting the pediatric reference ranges for our new ALT and AST reagents in an effort to better serve our population. Numerous academic studies were reviewed, and the values listed below were adopted on August 3, 2022:
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new reference range
Effective August 2, 2022, reference ranges for the below tests will be updated to better align with the vendor’s recommendation and with Spectrum Health Lakeland Laboratory. Please click on the links below and scroll to the Reference Range field to see the updated ranges.
• Lithium Level [LAB29]
• PTH Intact [LAB108]
• IgM Level [LAB72]
• IgA Level [LAB73]
• CA 125 Level [LAB155]
• C4 Complement Level [LAB151]
• C3 Complement Level [LAB152]
• Albumin Level [LAB45]
• Transferrin Level [LAB133]
Questions or inquiries may be directed to the “Contact Us” link above.
Effective December 6, 2021, Spectrum Health Reference Laboratory (SHRL) Coagulation department will go live with a new lot of Prothrombin Time (Protime/PT) reagents. The reference range for the PT will be adjusted to reflect this reagent lot change and align with our Regional Laboratories. The new reference range will be 9.5 – 12.0 seconds. There will be no change to the INR ranges.
| Test | Current Reference Range | New Reference Range |
| Prothrombin Time (PT) | 9.7 – 12.6 seconds | 9.5 – 12.0 seconds |
On Tuesday October 26, 2021, a new lot of aPTT reagent will go live for the Spectrum Health Laboratory Information System starting at 10:00 AM.
• The aPTT therapeutic range for ADULT patients on continuous heparin infusions will be updated to reflect the new reagents. The therapeutic range, for most indications, will be changed from 37 to 52 seconds to a new range of 42 to 57 seconds. UFH anti-Xa therapeutic ranges will remain unchanged (0.3 to 0.7 units/mL). All ADULT nomograms will be adjusted to reflect the new therapeutic ranges.
• For PEDIATRIC patients, aPTT nomograms will no longer be used in this population. Only the unfractionated heparin (UFH) anti-Xa nomograms will remain for PEDIATRIC patients, again with no changes made to their current UFH anti-Xa nomograms.
Beginning September 8, at approximately 2PM, Spectrum Health Laboratories will go live with their new lot of APTT reagent. This lot change triggered a new therapeutic curve resulting in new heparin nomograms for the system. The standard heparin therapeutic range will change from the current 45-65 seconds to a new range of 37-52 seconds based off the new curve. Reference ranges for the APTT assay will also be updated. Grand Rapids APTT reference range will be 21-27 seconds and the Regional Hospitals will be 21-31 seconds.
APTT specimens that are unable to reach an endpoint (no clot is detected), will reflex to the Unfractionated Heparin (UFH) (Test Code LAB3389) anti-Xa assay. To accommodate this change, UFH values have been added to heparin nomograms. The UFH anti-Xa assay is currently only performed in the Grand Rapids labs and valid only for unfractionated heparin. Any questions concerning these changes may be directed to the Spectrum Health Regional Laboratory Coagulation department at 616-267-2740.