Cyanide

Label Mnemonic:	CYA
Epic code:	LAB7363
Downtime form:	A-1a Doctor/Provider Orders - Pathology Core and Specialty Care Nursery

Commercial Mailout Laboratory
6240-8 RCP
356-8593

Specimen(s):

Whole Blood

Collection Medium:

Gray top tube 6 mL (Na Fluoride)

Minimum:

Preferred Minimum: 1 mL whole blood
Absolute Minimum: 0.4 mL whole blood

Rejection Criteria:

Serum or plasma.

Delivery Instructions:

CRITICAL FROZEN. Deliver on ice.

Turn Around Time:

8-11 days upon receipt at reference laboratory

Reference Range:

By report.

Interpretive Data:

Elevated values seldom indicate toxicity for patients on nitroprusside therapy.

Comments:

Note: Studies have shown that cyanide has variable instability in biological specimens and is particularly unstable in some postmortem specimens. The loss of cyanide can be minimized by shipping the sample to the laboratory for analysis as soon as possible, preferably using refrigerated or frozen transportation and preservation using sodium fluoride/potassium oxalate (grey-top tube). The potential for increases in cyanide concentrations, although rare, have also been demonstrated and may be due to microbial action. Preservation with sodium fluoride may reduce this possibility.

Methodology:

Quantitative High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

CPT Code:

82600