Sign in →

Test Code LAB000 Immunoglobulin M (IgM) Heavy and Light Chain (HLC) Pairs, Kappa and Lambda with Ratio


Specimen Required


Patient Preparation: Patient should be fasting for eight hours to avoid lipemic sample interference.

Specimen Type: Serum

Collection Container/Tube: SST or Red top

Submission Container/Tube: Plastic vial

Specimen Volume: 0.75 mL

Collection Instructions:

1. Draw blood in a plain red-top tube, serum gel tube(s) is also acceptable.

2. Separate serum immediately after coagulation (30 minutes) to prevent hemolysis. Send 0.75 mL of serum refrigerated in a plastic vial.


Useful For

Heavy and light chain pair quantitation may be useful for:

1. Distinguishing between broadly migrating monoclonal proteins and restricted polyclonal immunoglobulin patterns on serum electrophoresis. 

2. Quantitating monoclonal IgM proteins that are difficult to quantitate using serum protein electrophoresis alone.

3. Providing a more specific quantitation of the monoclonal protein than total IgM measurements alone.

Method Name

Turbidimetric

Reporting Name

IgM Heavy Light Chains (HLC), S

Specimen Type

Serum

Specimen Minimum Volume

0.5 mL

Specimen Stability Information

Specimen Type Temperature Time Special Container
Serum Refrigerated (preferred) 7 days
  Ambient  7 days
  Frozen  7 days

Reject Due To

Hemolysis Mild reject; Gross reject
Lipemia Mild reject; Gross reject
Icterus NA
Other Microbially-contaminated specimen; specimen containing particulate matter

Reference Values

IgM Kappa (g/L): 0.29-1.82

IgM Lambda (g/L): 0.17-0.94

IgM Kappa:IgM Lambda ratio: 0.96-2.30

Day(s) Performed

Tuesday, Friday

Report Available

1 to 9 days

Performing Laboratory

LabCorp Burlington

CPT Code Information

83883 x 2

LOINC Code Information

Test ID Test Order Name Order LOINC Value
FHLC IgM Heavy Light Chains (HLC), S Obsolete

 

Result ID Test Result Name Result LOINC Value
Z5399 IgM Kappa, S 74866-5
Z5400 IgM Lambda, S 74867-3
Z5401 IgM K/L HLC Ratio 74870-7