Hi,
In looking hack at some lab results from last year/2023, I had a spot UACR done - the micro albumin piece was reported as “<12 mg/L” (with the normal range for this piece noted as <19). and the urine creatinine as “28.8mg/dl” and the overall result said “no value - microAlbumin concentration too low to calculate the albumin/creatinine ratio.” This was at a local health system’s lab
Flash forward to this year and the local health system switched to labcorp for their testing. I had a UACR done last month and the micro albumin result was <3 (this piece did not have a reference “normal value”), the urine creatinine was 51.6 mg/dl, (this piece also did not have a mormal reference value ), and the overall ratio was reported as <6, with “normal” range listed as 0-29.
Question is this: if the ratio could be calculated by Labcorp with a micro albumin <3, why couldn’t the other lab calculate it with a higher micro albumin value? And in the 2023 test, the microalbumin value was higher and the creatinine lower -should I have been concerned about that result?
In looking hack at some lab results from last year/2023, I had a spot UACR done - the micro albumin piece was reported as “<12 mg/L” (with the normal range for this piece noted as <19). and the urine creatinine as “28.8mg/dl” and the overall result said “no value - microAlbumin concentration too low to calculate the albumin/creatinine ratio.” This was at a local health system’s lab
Flash forward to this year and the local health system switched to labcorp for their testing. I had a UACR done last month and the micro albumin result was <3 (this piece did not have a reference “normal value”), the urine creatinine was 51.6 mg/dl, (this piece also did not have a mormal reference value ), and the overall ratio was reported as <6, with “normal” range listed as 0-29.
Question is this: if the ratio could be calculated by Labcorp with a micro albumin <3, why couldn’t the other lab calculate it with a higher micro albumin value? And in the 2023 test, the microalbumin value was higher and the creatinine lower -should I have been concerned about that result?
Accepted Answer
Hello,
All of these are normal results. If your urinary albumin is unmeasurably low, then this is a good thing. Different labs have different thresholds below which they do not detect or report the very low albumin levels. Also, the individual pieces of the ratio will vary but they will vary in proportion to each other so long as the ratio isn't truly changing. Finally, I would only look at the ratio and not the individual components. In my opinion, labs should not even report the individual components in order to avoid confusion.
Bottom line, these are normal results.
Dr. Jordan Weinstein
All of these are normal results. If your urinary albumin is unmeasurably low, then this is a good thing. Different labs have different thresholds below which they do not detect or report the very low albumin levels. Also, the individual pieces of the ratio will vary but they will vary in proportion to each other so long as the ratio isn't truly changing. Finally, I would only look at the ratio and not the individual components. In my opinion, labs should not even report the individual components in order to avoid confusion.
Bottom line, these are normal results.
Dr. Jordan Weinstein
One correction on the above ! The 2024 result of the microalbimin piece was in a different measurement scale - was reported as “<3 ug/ml” not mg/liter as the old scale was!
Accepted Answer
Hello,
All of these are normal results. If your urinary albumin is unmeasurably low, then this is a good thing. Different labs have different thresholds below which they do not detect or report the very low albumin levels. Also, the individual pieces of the ratio will vary but they will vary in proportion to each other so long as the ratio isn't truly changing. Finally, I would only look at the ratio and not the individual components. In my opinion, labs should not even report the individual components in order to avoid confusion.
Bottom line, these are normal results.
Dr. Jordan Weinstein
All of these are normal results. If your urinary albumin is unmeasurably low, then this is a good thing. Different labs have different thresholds below which they do not detect or report the very low albumin levels. Also, the individual pieces of the ratio will vary but they will vary in proportion to each other so long as the ratio isn't truly changing. Finally, I would only look at the ratio and not the individual components. In my opinion, labs should not even report the individual components in order to avoid confusion.
Bottom line, these are normal results.
Dr. Jordan Weinstein
UKidney Staff
selected the reply #2959 as the answer for this post — 4 months ago
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