Chloride, Plasma

Diagnostic Use

Chloride is the most abundant plasma anion. Chloride influences body water distribution in a manner similar to sodium , and is also involved in the maintenance of electrochemical gradients across cell membranes.

In isolation, chloride measurement does not provide much useful clinical information, however it is required in order to calculate the anion gap .

Department

Core Biochemistry

Delphic Registration Code

CL

Turnaround Time

3 hours

Test Code

3513

Specimen Type

• Serum
• Plasma

Specimen Requirements

Tube/Container Type:

Preferred

• Lithium Heparin - Non-gel (Green Cap)

Preferred if West Coast

• Lithium Heparin - Gel (Light Green Cap)

Acceptable

• Serum (Red Cap)
• SST II (Gold Cap)
• Lithium Heparin - Gel (Light Green Cap)

Preferred Sample Volume (ml)

4.5

No of Samples Required

1

Paediatric Specimen Requirements

Tube/Container Type:

Preferred

• Lithium Heparin - Non-gel (Green Cap)

Acceptable

• Lithium Heparin - Gel (Light Green Cap)

Minimum Sample Volume (ml)

0.6

Additional Specimen Information

Paediatric Specimen - Heparin microtainer tube 600 µL

Aliquot Instructions

Sample Type

• Serum
• Plasma

Minimum Volume (ml)

0.1

Interpretation

In general, the chloride concentration tracks the sodium concentration.  Large discrepancies between sodium and chloride often indicate specimen contamination (for example, contamination with the sodium salt of a drug left in an IV line).

The chloride result is part of the anion gap calculation, which is used to narrow down the causes of a metabolic acidosis.  Hyperchloraemia is associated with a normal anion gap metabolic acidosis (i.e. chloride retention to compensate for loss of bicarbonate).

In patients with severe hyperproteinaemia or hyperlipidaemia, blood gas chloride (and sodium) results should be used in preference to those from a laboratory analyser, as laboratory results may be falsely low.

Reference Intervals

95 – 110 mmol/L

Test Method

Indirect ion specific electrode (ISE) performed on Beckman Coulter AU5822 analysers.

Non-Funded Test Cost

$10.1 (Exclusive of GST)

Billing Code

3513

Contact Information

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