Reference Ranges and Conversion Factors

Reference ranges are valuable guides for the clinician, but they should not be regarded as absolute indicators of health and disease. Reference ranges should be used with caution, since values for healthy individuals often overlap significantly with values for persons afflicted with disease. In addition, laboratory values may vary significantly because of differences in methodology and mode of instrument standardization. This is especially true for immunological tests, which use antibodies that may have widely different characteristics. As a result, laboratory values in individual institutions may differ from those listed in this manual.

Analyte Range Conventional Units Conversion (mult. by) SI Units
Serum
ACTH 10-50 pg/mL 1 ng/L
Albumin 3.3-5.0 g/dL 10 g/L
Aldosterone:
- Supine < 1.6-16 ng/dL 0.0277 nmol/L
- Upright 4.0-31 ng/dL 0.0277 nmol/L
Alkaline phosphatase 30-130 U/L 1 U/L
ALT 10-45 U/L 1 U/L
Amylase 30-150 U/L 1 U/L
Ammonia 10-35 µmol/L 1 µmol/L
AST 10-45 U/L 1 U/L
Bicarbonate 22-28 mEq/L 1 mmol/L
Bilirubin:
- Total 0-1.2 mg/dL 17.1 µmol/L
- Conjugated 0-0.2 mg/dL 17.1 µmol/L
C-peptide 0.9-3.9 ng/mL 0.33 nmol/L
C-reactive protein < 0.3 mg/dL 10 mg/L
Calcium 8.5-10.4 mg/dL 0.25 mmol/L
Chloride 97-107 mEq/L 1 mmol/L
Cholesterol 140-220 mg/dL 0.026 mmol/L
CO2, total 24-31 mmol/L 1 mmol/L
- pCO2 (WB, arterial) 35-48 mmHg 1 mmHg
Copper:
- Male 70-140 µg/dL 0.16 µmol/L
- Female 88-155 µg/dL 0.16 µmol/L
Cortisol:
- Morning 6-24 µg/dL 27.6 nmol/L
- Evening 3-12 µg/dL 27.6 nmol/L
Creatine kinase (CK) 0-200 U/L 1 U/L
Creatine kinase (MB) < 6% of total ng/mL
CK index < 2.5
Creatinine 0.4-1.2 mg/dL 88.4 µmol/L
Erythrocyte count (male) 4.3-5.7 x 106 cells/µL
Differential leukocyte count:
- Neutrophils, total 1,800-7,700 x 103 cells/µL
* bands 200-2,100 x 103 cells/µL
* segmented 1,500-6,700 x 103 cells/µL
- Eosinophils 0-700 x 103 cells/µL
- Basophils 0-150 x 103 cells/µL
- Lymphocytes 1,500-4,000 x 103 cells/µL
- Monocytes 200-950 x 102 cells/µL
Ferritin:
- Male 20-250 ng/mL 1 µg/L
- Female 10-145 ng/mL 1 µg/L
Folate 4-20 ng/mL 2.26 nmol/L
GGT:
- Male <38 U/L 1 U/L
- Female <24 U/L 1 U/L
Glucose 70-100 mg/dL 0.055 mmol/L
HDL-cholesterol:
- Male > 35 mg/dL 0.026 mmol/L
- Female > 45 mg/dL 0.026 mmol/L
Hematocrit:
- Male 40-50 % vol.
- Female 37-47 % vol.
Hemoglobin:
- Male 14-18 g/dL
- Female 12-16 g/dL
IBC (total) 228-428 µg/dL 0.18 µmol/L
Insulin 5-35 µU/mL 6.95 pmol/L
Iron:
- Male 65-170 µg/dL 0.18 µmol/L
- Female 50-170 µg/dL 0.18 µmol/L
Lactate 6.4-16.5 mg/dL 0.11 mmol/L
Lead < 10 µg/dL 0.048 µmol/L
Leukocyte count 4.5-11.0 x 103 cells/µL
Lipase 20-250 U/L 1 U/L
Lithium 0.5-1.5 mEq/L 1.0 mmol/L
Magnesium 1.7-2.6 mg/dL 0.41 mmol/L
Myoglobin < 100 ng/mL
Osmolality 275-298 mOsm/kg 1 mOsm/kg
pCO2 (WB, arterial) 35-45 mmHg 1 mmHg
pH (WB, arterial) 7.35-7.45
Phosphate 2.5-4.5 mg/dL 0.32 mmol/L
Platelet count 150-450,000 cells/µL
pO2 (WB, arterial) 85-108 mmHg 1 mmHg
Potassium 3.5-5.0 mEq/L 1 mmol/L
Protein (Total) 6.0-8.0 g/dL 10 g/L
Red cell (erythrocyte) count:
- Male 4.7-6.1 x 106 cells/µL
- Female 4.2-5.7 x 106 cells/µL
Sodium 135-145 mEq/L 1 mmol/L
Testosterone:
- Male 185-650 ng/dL 3.47 nmol/L
- Female 10-75 ng/dL 3.47 nmol/L
Thyroxine:
- total T4 4.5-10.5 µg/dL 12.9 nmol/L
- free T4 0.9-2.1 ng/dL 12.9 nmol/L
Transferrin:
- Male 187-318 mg/dL 0.01 g/L
- Female 218-331 mg/dL 0.01 g/L
Triglycerides 30-300 mg/dL 0.0113 mmol/L
Triodothyronine:
- total T3 65-180 ng/dL 0.0154 mmol/L
- free T3 0.1-0.3 ng/dL 0.0154 mmol/L
TSH 0.35-5.5 mU/L 1 mU/L
Urea (urea nitrogen) 8-18 mg/dL 0.36 mmol/L
Uric acid:
- Male 3.6-7.5 mg/dL 59.48 µmol/L
- Female 3.6-6.4 mg/dL 59.48 µmol/L
Vitamin B12 210-1020 pg/mL 0.738 pmol/L
Vitamin D:
- 25 OH-D 15-57 ng/mL 2.5 mmol/L
- 1,25(OH)2-D 15-50 pg/mL 2.4 pmol/L
White blood cell count (WBC; leukocyte) 4-10,000 x 103 cells/µL
Zinc:
- Male 75-291 µg/dL 0.1530 µmol/L
- Female 65-256 µg/dL 0.1530 µmol/L
Urine
Aldosterone (dependent on Na intake) 6-25 µg/24h 2.77 nmol/d
Calcium (diet dependent) 100-250 mg/24h 0.025 mmol/d
Catecholamines:
- Epinephrine 0-25 µg/24h 5.46 nmol/d
- Norepinephrine 0-100 µg/24h 5.91 nmol/d
Cortisol, free 20-90 µg/24h 2.76 nmol/d
Creatinine:
- Male 1-2 g/24h 8.84 mmol/d
- Female 1-1.8 g/24h 8.84 mmol/d
Creatinine clearance 90-125 mL/min 1.0 mL/min
5 HIAA 3-15 mg/24h 5.2 µmol/d
Metanephrine 30-350 µg/24h 5.458 nmol/d
Oxalate:
- Male 7-44 mg/24h 11.4 µmol/L
- Female 4-31 mg/24h 11.4 µmol/L
Phosphate 0.4-1.0 g/24h 32.3 mmol/L
Urea (urea nitrogen) 10-20 g/24h 35.7 mmol/d
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