HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS I/II ANTIBODY (087-7204)

 HIV

 Screen - automated EIA (OCD 3600); confirmation - Western Blot (BioRad)

  Clinical Chemistry

 Routine: 8 hours, ASAP: 4 hours; confirmation of positives requires 3 - 7 days.

Collect:  7 mL of blood in SST (serum separator tube). (Min.: 3mL of blood). 

Specimen Preparation: Allow specimen to clot completely at room temperature. Centrifuge to separate serum from cells within 2 hours of collection. Transfer serum from collection tube to labeled plastic transport tube.  

Storage/Transport:  Delivered to Sample Management within 2 hours of collection.   

Stability:   Room temperature for ≤ 8 hours , refrigerated    for ≤ 48 hours, or  frozen if longer

If applicable, state clinical information that is required to be provided with specimen.

By report (reports may vary based on instrumentation, patient age and sex)

 A consent form signed by patient, witness, and ordering physician must be completed for each specimen for inpatient testing and placed in the patient's chart. For non-UTMB patients, the physician is responsible for obtaining written consent and performing appropriate counseling for the test. To ensure irrefutable identification, the laboratory strongly recommends that the original collection tube be submitted to the laboratory for this test.

HIV-I confirmation (Western blot) results: The results are reported as: "Confirmed positive for the presence of HIV-I antibodies. Evidence of infection.", or " WB failed to confirm the presence of HIV-1 antibodies. Retest in 12 weeks if clinically indicated", or "WB is indeterminate, if this is the first test, testing should be repeated within 6-8 weeks if clinically indicated. If repeatedly indeterminate, retesting is not necessary unless warranted based on clinical circumstances." The interpretation is based on the band pattern exhibited in the test. The CDC recommendations are bands at any of the two following locations be considered positive: p24, gp41, gp120/160. The report will contain the positive bands and the interpretation.

 86703, 86689 (confirmation)

When ordering tests for which Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement will be sought, physicians should only order tests that are medically necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of the patient.  Components of the organ or disease panels may be ordered individually.  The diagnostic information must substantiate all tests ordered and must be in the form of an ICD-9 code or its verbal equivalent.