Do you correct calcium for high albumin?
Whitaker and other experts recommend calculating a corrected calcium level by using the values for both calcium and albumin. A high albumin level, above 4, can artificially elevate the measured calcium; a low albumin level, below 4, can artificially lower the measure of calcium.
How do you calculate corrected calcium with albumin?
Thus, the calcium level should be corrected in patients with low serum albumin levels, using the following formula: Corrected calcium (mg/dL) = measured total Ca (mg/dL) + 0.8 (4.0 – serum albumin [g/dL]), where 4.0 represents the average albumin level.
How can hypercalcemia be corrected with albumin?
Therefore, to correct for an albumin level of less than 4 g/dL, one should add 0.8 to the measured value of calcium for each 1-g/dL decrease in albumin. Without this correction, an abnormally high serum calcium level may appear to be normal.
What is the correlation between calcium and albumin?
The relationship between total serum calcium and albumin is defined by the following simple rule: the serum total calcium concentration falls by 0.8 mg/dL for every 1-g/dL fall in serum albumin concentration. This rule assumes that normal albumin equals 4.0 g/dL and normal calcium is 10.0 mg/dL.
What does high corrected calcium mean?
Hypercalcemia is a condition in which the calcium level in your blood is above normal. Too much calcium in your blood can weaken your bones, create kidney stones, and interfere with how your heart and brain work. Hypercalcemia is usually a result of overactive parathyroid glands.
What does corrected calcium tell you?
Whichever formula is used, “corrected” calcium is an estimate of the total calcium concentration, had serum protein (albumin) concentration been normal.
What is corrected calcium in blood test?
Many laboratories report corrected calcium or Ca (corr) which is just total calcium adjusted to compensate for abnormally high or low levels of albumin in the blood which can cause the total calcium level to appear falsely high or low.
What is normal corrected calcium level?
The corrected total serum calcium concentration is normally 8.5-10.2 mg/dL, but there is no sure means of predicting the serum calcium level, for either hypocalcemia or hypercalcemia, at which symptoms will occur. The rapidity of change, as well as the absolute serum calcium concentration, impacts symptom development.
