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Bone Alk. Phos Question & insurance Q.
My Bone Alk. Phos. lab level was reported to me in mcg/L This test was sent to and performed by the Mayo Clinic Laboratories in Rochester. I am wondering why it is reported as mcg/L instead of in U/L as other "Alkaline Phosphatase, S" labs are (?).
My parathyroid level is a little bit elevated. I am told I do not meet Medicare criteria for MRI imaging of my parathyroids. Does anyone happen to know what the criteria is i.e. Is my doctor's assessment the criteria or are there specific lab readings, etc. that must be met, &/or both?
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What is your parathyroid level, when you say it's "a little bit elevated"? Also, are your serum calcium levels also elevated? My last PTH test measured 103.7 -- the normal range is 11.0-101.0. I have an appointment with an endocrinologist in two days. The last one I saw a few months ago wanted to "watch and wait", but I would like to find out if I qualify for surgery. There are other imaging options besides MRI. Here's a link to a website about them. However I read that none of the imaging is 100% as they can miss tumors.
Website: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/17322-parathyroid-scan
Thank you for your information. I don't understand my labs frankly: A Bone Alk. Phos. was drawn and my value was 17 mcg/L. The reference value given is less than or equal to 22 (Postmenopausal, which I am). A Alk P'TASE, Total Ser/Plas was 87 U/L (35-105 U/L). My CTx (Collagen Type 1 C-Telopeptide level was 414 pg/mL. The lab report says the reference range for my age group is not established. My Endocrinologist says she wants it under 200 or so and that my Alk. Phos. level is also too high. My last parathyroid level dropped to 66.9 pg/mL (15.0-65.0 pg/mL. The highest level recorded was 90.4 pg/mL. As far as "watch and wait" go, has anyone here had success with this approach? I guess I shouldn't feel too bad, my Internist doesn't know what the heck a CTx is either (and then they wonder why we turn to the Internet and YouTube for help).