CLINICAL CHEMISTRY FORMULAS

Mean Standard Deviation

∑𝑥 ∑(𝑥 − 𝑥̄)2
𝑥̄ = 𝑆𝐷 = √
𝑁 𝑛−1

Coefficient of Variation Variance

𝑆𝐷
𝐶𝑉 = 100 𝑉 = (𝑆𝐷)2
𝑥̄

Planck’s Formula Wavelength

𝑉
𝐸 = ℎ𝑣 𝜆=
𝑓
E = energy of a Photon (joules or eV) λ = wavelength (meters)
h = Planck’s constant (6.626x10 joule-second) v = wave velocity (m/s)
-34

v = frequency f = frequency (cycles or Hz)

Absorbance Unknown Solution

𝐴 = 𝑎𝑏𝑐 = 2 − 𝑙𝑜𝑔%𝑇
𝐴𝑢 𝐶𝑠
a = molar absorptivity 𝐶𝑢 =
b = length of light 𝐴𝑠
c = concentration of solution
T = transmittance

Percent Transmittance (1) Percent Transmittance (2)

𝐼𝑡
%𝑇 =
𝐼𝑜 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑆𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙
%𝑇 = × 100
T = transmittance 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝐵𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑆𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙
It = transmitted light through the sample
I0 = intensity of light striking the sample

Retention Factor Relative Centrifugal Force

𝑑 (𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑)

𝑅𝑓 =
𝑑 (𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡)
𝑅𝐶𝐹 = (1.118 × 1015 )(𝑟)(𝑟𝑝𝑚)2

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 CLINICAL CHEMISTRY FORMULAS

Molarity Molality

𝑛 𝑛
𝑀= 𝑀=
𝐿 𝑘𝑔

Normality (1) Normality (2)

𝑔
𝑁 = 𝑀 × 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑁=
𝐸𝑊 × 𝐿

Density Specific Gravity

𝑚 𝜌𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝜌= 𝑆𝐺 =
𝑣 𝜌𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

°C → °F °F → °C

5 9
°𝐶 = (°𝐹 − 32) °𝐹 = (°𝐶 + 32)
9 5

°C → Kelvin Body Mass Index

𝑘𝑔
𝐵𝑀𝐼 =
𝐾 = °𝐶 + 273 𝑚2
OR
𝐵𝑀𝐼 = 703 × 𝑙𝑏𝑠 × 𝑖𝑛2

Steady State Plasma Concentration

𝐶𝑆𝑆 = (5)𝑡1/2 → (7)𝑡1/2

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 CLINICAL CHEMISTRY FORMULAS

Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressure Boyle’s Law

𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝑃1 + 𝑃2 + 𝑃3 … 𝑃1 𝑉1 = 𝑃2 𝑉2

Charles’ Law Gay-Lussac’s Law

𝑉1 𝑉2 𝑃1 𝑃2
= =
𝑇1 𝑇2 𝑇1 𝑇2

Avogadro’s Law Combined Gas Law

𝑉1 𝑉2 𝑃1 𝑉1 𝑃2 𝑉2
= =
𝑛1 𝑛2 𝑇1 𝑇2

Ideal Gas Law

𝑃𝑉 = 𝑛𝑅𝑇

n = 6.022 x 1023

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 CLINICAL CHEMISTRY FORMULAS

With Disorder Without Disorder

(+) Test Result TP FP

True Positive False Positive
(–) Test Result

FN TN
False Negative True Negative

Sensitivity Specificity

𝑇𝑃 𝑇𝑁
𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
(𝑇𝑃 + 𝐹𝑁) (𝑇𝑁 + 𝐹𝑃)

Positive Predictive Value Negative Predictive Value

𝑇𝑃 𝑇𝑁
𝑃𝑃𝑉 = 𝑁𝑃𝑉 =
(𝑇𝑃 + 𝐹𝑃) (𝑇𝑁 + 𝐹𝑁)

Antonio Mirano | 2018

 CLINICAL CHEMISTRY FORMULAS

Friedewald Equation

TG ≤ 400 mg/dL or 4.52 mmol/L

𝑇𝐺
𝐿𝐷𝐿𝑐 = 𝑇𝐶 − 𝐻𝐷𝐿𝑐 −
5 𝑜𝑟 2.175

De-Long Equation

TG ≥ 400 mg/dL or 4.52 mmol/L

𝑇𝐺
𝐿𝐷𝐿𝑐 = 𝑇𝐶 − 𝐻𝐷𝐿𝑐 −
6.5 𝑜𝑟 2.825

Creatinine Clearance

𝑈𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑉 1.73
𝐶𝐶 = × ×
𝑆𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑇 𝐴

Modified Cystatin C Equation

𝐺𝐹𝑅 = 84.69 × 𝐶𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛 𝐶 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 × 1.384

OR
𝐺𝐹𝑅 = 113.06 × 𝐶𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛 𝐶 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

White Formula (β Trace Protein)

𝐺𝐹𝑅 = 112.1 × 𝐵𝑇𝑃−0.622 × 𝑈𝑟𝑒𝑎−0.280 (× 0.880 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠)

OR
−0.758
𝐺𝐹𝑅 = 167.8 × 𝐵𝑇𝑃 × 𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒 −0.204 (× 0.871 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠)

Pöge Formula (β Trace Protein)

𝐺𝐹𝑅 = 89.85 × 𝐵𝑇𝑃−0.5541 × 𝑈𝑟𝑒𝑎−0.3018

OR
−0.2594
𝐺𝐹𝑅 = 974.31 × 𝐵𝑇𝑃 × 𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒 −0.647

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 CLINICAL CHEMISTRY FORMULAS

Osmolality (1)

𝐺𝑙𝑢 𝐵𝑈𝑁
𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑚 𝑚𝑂𝑠𝑚/𝑘𝑔 = 1.86𝑁𝑎 + +
18 2.8

Osmolality (2)

𝐺𝑙𝑢 𝐵𝑈𝑁
𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑚 𝑚𝑂𝑠𝑚/𝑘𝑔 = 2𝑁𝑎 + +
20 3

Osmolal Gap

𝑂𝑠𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑙 𝐺𝑎𝑝 = 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑂𝑠𝑚 − 𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑂𝑠𝑚

Anion Gap (1)

𝐴𝐺 = 𝑁𝑎+ − (𝐶𝑙 − + 𝐻𝐶𝑂3 − )

Anion Gap (2)

𝐴𝐺 = (𝑁𝑎+ + 𝐾 + ) − (𝐶𝑙 − + 𝐻𝐶𝑂3 − )

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 CLINICAL CHEMISTRY FORMULAS

Globulin Albumin-Globulin Ratio

𝐴𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝐺𝑙𝑜𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑛 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛 − 𝐴𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝐺𝑅 =
𝐺𝑙𝑜𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑛

Indirect Bilirubin (B1) De Ritis Ratio

𝐴𝑆𝑇
𝐵1 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑏𝑖𝑛 − 𝐵2 𝐷𝑅𝑅 =
𝐴𝐿𝑇

Amylase-Creatinine Ratio pH of an Acidic Solution

𝑈𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒𝐴𝑚𝑦 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑚𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝐴𝐶𝑅 = × 100 𝑝𝐻 = −log[𝐻 + ]
𝑈𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑚𝐴𝑚𝑦

pOH of an Alkaline Solution pH of an Alkaline Solution

𝑝𝑂𝐻 = − log[𝑂𝐻 − ] 𝑝𝐻 = 14 − (− log[𝑂𝐻 − ])

pH of a Buffer Solution Blood pH

[𝐴] [𝐻𝐶𝑂3 − ]
𝑝𝐻 = 𝑝𝐾𝑎 + 𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑝𝐻 = 6.1 + 𝑙𝑜𝑔
[𝐻𝐴] [𝐻2 𝐶𝑂3 ]

Total CO2 Carbonic Acid

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑂2 = 𝐻𝐶𝑂3 − + 𝐻2 𝐶𝑂3 𝐻2 𝐶𝑂3 = 𝑝𝐶𝑂2 × 0.03

Antonio Mirano | 2018

 CLINICAL CHEMISTRY FORMULAS

Total Iron Binding Capacity Serum Transferrin

Rodriguez (2018):
𝑇𝐼𝐵𝐶 = 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑚 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑛 × 1.25
𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑚 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑛 = 𝑇𝐼𝐵𝐶 × 0.70
th
Tietz (6 ed.):
𝑇𝐼𝐵𝐶 = 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑚 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑛 × 1.43
Unsaturated Iron Binding Capacity Transferrin Saturation

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐼𝑟𝑜𝑛
𝑈𝐼𝐵𝐶 = 𝑇𝐼𝐵𝐶 − 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑚 𝐼𝑟𝑜𝑛 %𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = × 100
𝑇𝐼𝐵𝐶

Free Thyroxine Index (1) Free Thyroxine Index (2)

𝑇𝑇4 × %𝑇3 𝑈𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒

𝐹𝑇4 𝐼 = 𝐹𝑇4 𝐼 = 𝑇𝑇4 × 𝑇𝐻𝐵𝑅
100
T3Uptake = THBR

Antonio Mirano | 2018