Labs That Say "see Fn"?

[sue1234]

I am still a month away from going back to my Mayo appt. In the meantime, all my labs are online, and all the blood tests have their results and ranges, no problem. The 24-hour urine various tests, however, do have their results and ranges, but all of them also have the phrase "see fn" after the result. Anyone know what and why that is there? Can I assume "fn" means footnote and any idea what it might be referring to?

[rubytuesday]

I would think that would be a good assumption. I've had blood tests that give a value but then some may follow with a few paragraphs about how the measures were performed, using certain instrumentation, etc. and some follow with another explanation of what would be normal for African Americans and what would be normal for Non-African Americans. I think values that require special spectrometry or other instrumentation explain the technique. Since techniques for certain tests could vary by which method the lab uses, there would not be a 'universal' normal range, rather it would depend on the type of test and specifically how measurements or counts were made. (if that makes sense). Sometimes the time of the day a specimen is taken (as I'm sure you know), would effect what would be considered a normal level (i.e. serum cortisol).

[sue1234]

Thanks, Ruby. I too have had the "paragraphs" after some tests in the past. I'm just curious if I had something that could alter results. Creatinine? Osmolality? Something similar that could affect the results? I had 3 test-sets run on the 24-hour urine: two sets were testing for a pheo, one set testing for cortisol/cortisone.