| (Biochemistry) |
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| Investigation | : | Growth Hormone | ||||||||||
| Specimen type | : | Serum | ||||||||||
| Spec container | : | Serum Gel | ||||||||||
| Volume required | : | 5 ml | ||||||||||
| Turnaround | : | <7 days | ||||||||||
GH results from 1st November 2009 are reported in mass units (ug/L.)
Results are 3 times lower than previously reported (mU/L.)
Growth hormone is increased by stress and exercise. In general a single Growth Hormone estimation provides little diagnostic information and dynamic (suppression or stimulation) tests are much more helpful.
Appropriate cut-off after GH stimulation tests (I.E. ITT or Glucagon) are as follows:
Severe GH deficiency <3ug/L, relative GH deficiency <6.6ug/L
Appropriate cut-off after a GTT suppression test are as follows:
excludes acromegaly <0.15ug/L; for cure of acromegaly suppression to <0.33ug/L.