91117 Hepatitis C Genotype

Specimen:

Collect:

One 7.5 mL SST

Also Acceptable
One 4 mL Lavender (EDTA)

Submit:

2 mL (Min:0.5 mL) Serum. Submit Frozen. Submit in a Standard Transport Tube.

Also Acceptable
2 mL (Min:0.5 mL) Plasma. Submit Frozen. Submit in a Standard Transport Tube.

Special Handling:

Avoid Repeated Freeze/Thaw Cycles
Critical Frozen
Separate from cells ASAP
This test may be unsuccessful if the HCV RNA viral load is less than 1,000 HCV RNA copies per mL of plasma.

Stability:

Ambient: Unacceptable; Refrigerated: 2 Hour(s); Frozen: 4 Month(s); Incubated: Unacceptable

Methodology:

Polyermerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Performed:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Reported:

4-8 Day(s)

CPT Codes:

87902 - Infagent Genotype Hep C Virus

Interpretive Data:


Isolates of Hepatitis C Virus are grouped into six major genotypes. These genotypes are subtyped according to sequence characteristics and are designated as 1a,1b,2a,2b,3a,3b,4a-h,5a and 6a. Reports suggest that patient prognosis and disease course may be genotype dependent. For example, HCV type 1 and 4 infections may be associated with more severe disease and decreased reponsiveness to therapy. Samples with fewer than 1000 HCV RNA copies/ml cannot be genotyped and may be reported as indeterminate.