A pancreatic digestive enzyme that appears unchanged in the faeces. Low concentrations are found in patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
Tube
Faeces Container
ID
29947
Availability
Weekdays. Batches are run weekly.
Additional information
Elastase not fully developed in newborns. Not useful in identifying mild disease. Very watery samples should be avoided because the dilutional effect of the stool water can lead to a falsely low result. If a low result is found in a watery sample, a repeat sample will be requested by the laboratory. Very hard/dry stool samples cannot be processed.
Turn around
2 to 3 weeks
Send to
Enterics Laboratory
Microbiology Department
Old Medical School
Thoresby Place
Great George Street
Leeds LS1 3EX
Collection Con
Instructions for laboratory: Refrigerate or freeze if not sending same day. Avoid multiple freeze-thaw cycles. Samples are stable at room temperature and at +4 to 8ºC for 7 days. Samples that are frozen at -20ºC are stable for up to 1 year.
Sample REQ
A single random formed stool sample approx. 2 g (cherry-sized). Avoid very watery or very hard stools where possible.
Ref. Range Notes
Normal: 200 to >500 ug/g stool.
Moderate to mild exocrine pancreatic insufficiency: 100-200 ug/g stool.
Severe exocrine pancreatic insufficiency: <100 ug/g stool.
Units
ug/g (stool)