Chloride, Urine

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.

Chloride is largely eliminated via the urine. Urine chloride measurement may be helpful when evaluating a patient with a metabolic acid-base disturbance.

Department

Core Biochemistry

Delphic Registration Code

UCL

Turnaround Time

8 hours

Test Code

4397

Specimen Type

• Urine
• 24hr Urine

Specimen Requirements

Tube/Container Type:

Preferred

• Pottle

Acceptable

• 24hr Urine Container

Aliquot Instructions

Sample Type

• Urine

Minimum Volume (ml)

0.5

Transport to Lab

Ambient (8 - 24 degrees Celsius)

Additional Referral/Aliquot Information

Preferred volume: 10ml

Interpretation

In normal health, urine chloride output largely reflects intake.

Urine chloride is a constituent of the urine anion gap which can be used to differentiate between the causes of a normal anion gap metabolic acidosis.

Urine chloride is also measured when investigating a patient with a hypochloraemic metabolic alkalosis.  A low urinary chloride (typically <10mmol/L) in this setting indicates appropriate renal chloride retention and is suggestive of a gastrointestinal cause of the alkalosis (e.g. prolonged vomiting).  However an elevated urine chloride in a patient with a metabolic alkalosis suggests renal chloride wasting which may be due to conditions such as mineralocorticoid excess or a primary disorder of the renal tubules.

Reference Intervals

Timed 24 hr urine: 110 – 250 mmol/24hr

Test Method

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

Non-Funded Test Cost

$18.19 (Exclusive of GST)

Billing Code

4397

Contact Information

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