Question

Donna is drawing a patient for a lipid panel. She asks the patient if they have eaten and the patient replied that he had pancakes for breakfast. Donna goes ahead and draws the blood and runs the test. She notices that the results are as follows: Cholesterol 201 g/dl, HDL 43 g/dl, LDL 135 g/dl and triglycerides 658. Which of these results are abnormal? Could any of the results be deterred by the patient not fasting? What does Donna need to do when verifying these results? Do you think Donna should have drawn the blood or should she have rescheduled the patient?

Answer 1

Lipid testing are generally prescribed to rule out any cardiac issues.To get an accurate result 12 hours of fasting is recommended. In non fasting blood sample the triglycerides level are high (it raises post meal ) The LDL also raise after a meal though there are no great changes in cholesterol level after a meal.

Serum cholestrol:

Normal =<200g/dl

Border line high=200 _239g/dl (patient value=201g/dl) after food _8mg/dl that is 193 mg/dl (normal range)

High=>240g/dl

LDL

Normal:less than 100mg/dl

Accepted :100_129mg/dl

Borderline high:130_159mg/dl (135mg/dl) for non fasting _4mg/dl ,135_4=131mg/dl

High:160_189mg /dl

Very high:>100mg/dl

HDL

Normal:>60

Borderline high:41_59mg/dl (43mg/dl)

High:<40mg/dl

TRIGLYCERIDES

Normal :<150mg/dl

Borderline High :250_199

High :200_499

Very high:>500mg/dl(658mg/dl)

The triglyceride levels and LDL levels are deterred by non saying state

Donna has to compare the values with the non fasting lipid level ranges

It is best Donna should have rescheduled the test after informing the concerned provider to get the most accurate result because his HDL level are low which is an indicator of heart disease