Laboratory
Tests On Blood Samples
All of the following tests are done on a sample of blood
taken from a vein, usually in the arm. |
| Test |
Use |
| Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) |
Can help identify or . May also be used to monitor women with rare
forms of ovarian cancer or those with cancerous changes
in the placenta (gestational trophoblastic disease). |
| Complete blood count (CBC) |
Routinely used to help identify causes
of pelvic pain, such as ectopic pregnancy or vaginal bleeding.
|
| Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) |
To help identify cause of pelvic pain
and to rule out infection. |
| Venereal Disease Research laboratory
(VDRL) test |
To help identify cause of pelvic pain,
especially when syphilis is suspected. Positive result
indicates syphilis. Negative result rules it out or indicates
that it has been adequately treated. Some false-positive
results occur in people with other infectious diseases. |
| Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and
luteinizing hormone (LH) |
To diagnose precocious ,
,
infertility, , and gonadal malfunctions (testes/ovaries),
all of which cause excessive levels of these hormones.
Low levels of these hormones indicate hypothalamic and
. |
| Estradiol |
To identify causes of ,
, or precocious .
Elevated levels indicate possible disorders. Oral contraceptives
lower estradiol levels. |
Thyroid function
tests:
Thyroid-stimulating hormone
(TSH), T 3 , and T 4 |
To identify causes of ,
abnormal bleeding, or galactorrhea (lactation at the wrong
time). |
| Prolactin |
To diagnose ,
,
or .
High levels occur normally during pregnancy, breastfeeding,
and after a hysterectomy. Otherwise, high levels indicate
a prolactin-secreting tumour. Many drugs, including oestrogens
and antihypertensives, can cause elevated levels. |
| Testosterone |
Used to determine cause of hirsutism
(excessive facial and body hair), lack of ovulation, or
amenorrhoea. Abnormally high levels in women may indicate
a malfunction of the ovaries. |
Dehydroepiandrosterone
(DHEA) and DHEA-sulfate
(DHEA-S) |
To determine cause of hirsutism, amenorrhoea.,
or infertility. Abnormally high levels may indicate an
adrenal gland disorder. |
| Lupus anticoagulant |
To determine cause of recurrent .
High levels indicate an abnormal factor in the blood that
causes clotting complications. |
| Chromosomal analysis |
To identify precocious puberty, congenital
anomalies, recurrent miscarriages, amenorrhoea., or infertility.
Chromosomal defects may explain the problems that prompted
the test. |
| Rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test |
To diagnose ,
which produces a positive test result. |
| Fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption
(FTA-ABS) test |
To confirm ,
especially in early stages. Determines whether positive
result from nontreponemal antigen tests (such as VDRL )
is false-positive or is indeed an indicative of syphilis. |
| Micromagglutination, treponema pallidum
(MHA-TP) |
To confirm . |
| CA 125 |
To diagnose, monitor progression of,
and check for recurrence of . Abnormally high level is commonly associated
with ovarian cancer, but levels may be falsely elevated
in many gynaecological disorders such as ,
benign ovarian cysts, first trimester of pregnancy, and
. It is also elevated in 70% of people with
cirrhosis, 60% of people with pancreatic cancer, and 20%
to 25% of all other malignancies. |
| Lipid-associated sialic acid (LSA, LASA-P)
in plasma |
To diagnose, monitor progression of,
and check for recurrence of . High levels are associated with malignancies
and inflammatory conditions. This non-specific test may
be elevated in a variety of chronic, benign medical conditions. |
| NB/70K |
To diagnose, monitor progression of,
and check for recurrence of . |
| CA 19-9 |
To diagnose, monitor progression of,
and check for recurrence of pancreatic or . |
| TAG 72.3 |
To diagnose, monitor progression of,
and check for recurrence of colon or . May be used along with other tumour markers
to distinguish benign ovarian tumours from malignant ones. |
Introduction
