Follicular-Stimulating Hormone and Luteinizing Hormone , Serum
(FSH, LH)

Sample type

Serum (preferred) or plasma

Uses

Help find the cause of infertility

Find out if there is a problem with ovarian function

Find the reason for irregular or stopped menstrual periods

Confirm the start of menopause, or perimenopause

The primary clinical use of LH measurement is in evaluating the normalcy of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Measurement of serum gonadotropin levels will allow for distinguishing between primary gonadal failure and deficient gonadal stimulation. LH measurement may also be of clinical importance because growth hormone and LH are frequently the first hormones to be affected by pituitary disease. The serum analysis of LH has also been found to be very useful in the diagnosis and treatment of infertility in women

Precautions

Patients should be cautioned to stop biotin consumption at least 72 hours prior to the collection of a sample.

Pre-analytical errors

The patient is taking biotin supplements

The corrective action

Do not collect the sample and ask the patient to stop taking biotin supplements for 8 hours

Post-analytical errors

reports were sent to the incorrect patient

If the patient’s gender is written wrong in the report, the reference range was written incorrectly

The corrective action

communication with patient, apologising for the error, and providing him with the correct report

If the report is not delivered to the patient and this error is discovered, fix it, but if the report is delivered to the patient, apologise to him, tell him that an error has occurred, and replace it with the correct report. And next time, be careful when you write down the gender and reference range