Tests starting with the letter M
Laboratory Test Guide: Tests Starting with the Letter "M"
A complete list of all tests beginning with the letter "M" performed at Egemed Hospitals’ Medical Laboratories is provided below. To help our patients understand these tests, a brief medical description and the purpose of each test in the laboratory are clearly stated.
Biochemistry, Hormone, and Metabolism Tests
Magnesium 24-Hour Urine
Description: This test measures the amount of magnesium—a key component of the body’s muscle and nervous systems—excreted by the kidneys over a 24-hour period.
Purpose: This test is used to assess whether the kidneys are retaining magnesium and to determine the cause of unexplained low magnesium levels.
MAGNESIUM Intracellular
Description: This is a much more sensitive test that measures the level of magnesium stored within the cells (red blood cells) by directly entering them.
Purpose: To detect "hidden" and chronic magnesium deficiency that exists at the cellular level despite appearing normal in routine blood tests.
Macroprolactin
Description: This is the separation of the biologically inactive "large-molecule" structure formed by the milk hormone prolactin as it binds to antibodies in the blood.
Objective: To prevent unnecessary medication or MRI treatments in patients with elevated prolactin levels by determining whether the elevation is due to a false-positive result.
Metanephrine, 24-Hour, Urine
Description: This test measures the level of metanephrine—a molecule formed by the breakdown of the stress hormone adrenaline—in a 24-hour urine collection.
Purpose: It is one of the gold standard methods for diagnosing severe episodes of high blood pressure and pheochromocytoma (a tumor of the adrenal gland).
Metanephrines in 24-hour urine
Description: This test involves the simultaneous screening of the breakdown products of all catecholamines (adrenaline/norepinephrine) secreted by the adrenal glands in a 24-hour urine sample.
Purpose: This test is ordered for the general diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumors presenting with palpitations, sweating, and persistent hypertension.
METHANEPHRINES Free Plasma
Description: This involves measuring metanephrine molecules in their free form directly in the bloodstream (plasma) before they are excreted in the urine.
Purpose: This test provides the earliest warning sign for the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma and has the highest sensitivity.
META-EPINEPHRINES Spot Urine
Description: This procedure involves screening for the total metanephrine panel using a spot urine sample collected at any time of day.
Purpose: To perform a rapid initial screening for adrenal gland abnormalities in patients for whom 24-hour urine collection is difficult (particularly in children).
METANEPHRINE Spot Urine
Description: This is the specific analysis of the "metanephrine" molecule alone in a single sample of spot urine.
Objective: To rapidly determine the relationship between tumor markers and adrenaline in the patient’s urine at the moment a hypertensive crisis occurs.
METHYLMALONIC ACID (MMA), Serum
Description: This is the blood level of a very specific acid that begins to accumulate in cells when the body is deficient in vitamin B12.
Purpose: To provide the earliest and most definitive diagnosis of "hidden B12 deficiency," a condition that begins at the cellular level despite appearing normal in standard blood tests.
Genetic, Prenatal, and Oncology Testing
MATERNAL CONTAMINATION
Description: This test determines whether the mother’s genetic cells have mixed with the fetal samples obtained through amniocentesis (fluid sampling) during pregnancy.
Objective: To confirm that genetic tests for Down syndrome and other conditions performed before birth are 100% specific to the fetus and to prevent misdiagnosis.
Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) Deletion and Duplication Analysis
Description: In MDS, a condition in which the bone marrow is unable to produce healthy blood, this is a molecular screening for specific losses (deletions) or gains (duplications) in DNA.
Purpose: To predict the direction of treatment by mapping the genetic profile of the disease.
MONOSOMY / TRISOMY 8
Description: This is a cytogenetic analysis to determine the presence of a deficiency (monosomy) or an extra copy (trisomy) of chromosome 8 in the human genome.
Objective: To determine the patient’s clinical risk group (aggressiveness) in blood cancers such as acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).
MPL Mutation Analysis
Description: Detection of acquired mutations in the MPL gene that trigger excessive production of blood platelets (thrombocytes) in the bone marrow.
Purpose: To establish a definitive genetic diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia and primary myelofibrosis (bone marrow fibrosis).
Multiple Myeloma (MM) Panel
Description: This comprehensive panel simultaneously screens for all critical genetic and chromosomal abnormalities specific to multiple myeloma, a plasma cell cancer of the bone marrow.
Objective: To confirm the type of cancer, assess the aggressiveness of the disease, and develop the most appropriate personalized treatment plan (chemotherapy) for the patient.
MYELODYSPLASTIC SYNDROME (MDS) PANEL
Description: This process involves the simultaneous mapping of the numerous different genetic mutations observed in MDS, a condition that causes bone marrow failure in older adults.
Purpose: This test is requested to predict the rate at which the disease will progress to Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and to determine whether the patient requires a bone marrow transplant.
Immunology, Autoimmunity, and Allergy Tests
Wide Panel of Myositis (Anti-Synthetase) Antibodies
Description: A comprehensive analysis of autoantibodies that cause the immune system to go out of control and attack the patient’s own skeletal muscle cells (and lung tissue).
Purpose: This test is used for the definitive diagnosis of rare rheumatic diseases, such as polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and anti-synthetase syndrome, which are characterized by muscle wasting.
Molecular Allergy Test
Description: This involves screening for IgE antibodies developed against hundreds of different allergens—such as food, pollen, house dust mites, or bee venom—at the molecular level using "chips (nanotechnology)" from a single blood sample.
Objective: Unlike traditional skin tests, the goal is to clearly distinguish between cross-reactions and to plan the most appropriate personalized vaccine (immunotherapy) treatment.
BANANA (Banana f92) CLIA
Description: This is a chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) for the detection of IgE-class allergy antibodies produced by the immune system in response to proteins found in bananas.
Objective: To identify food allergies and assess the risk of the dangerous "Latex-Fruit Syndrome" (latex cross-allergy), which is commonly observed in individuals with banana allergies.
Microbiology and PCR Tests
SEARCH FOR MUSHROOMS, NAIL
Description: This procedure involves scraping keratin tissue from a problematic nail with abnormal shape or color, applying special solutions to the sample, and examining it directly under a microscope for fungal hyphae (threads).
Purpose: To quickly determine whether nail damage is caused by a fungal infection (onychomycosis) and to initiate medication treatment.
Mycobacterium Culture
Description: This involves the cultivation of slow-growing bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB) by monitoring them for weeks in specialized tubes or culture media in a laboratory setting.
Purpose: To confirm a tuberculosis diagnosis with 100% accuracy and to determine which tuberculosis medications the cultured bacteria are resistant to (antibiogram).
Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA PCR
Description: This is a molecular screening test that detects DNA sequences in sputum or other bodily fluids within seconds, regardless of whether the tuberculosis bacteria are alive or not.
Objective: Rather than waiting weeks for culture results, the goal is to diagnose tuberculosis—a potentially fatal disease—within hours.
Mycoplasma Pneumonia IgM and IgG
Description: This test detects acute (IgM) and persistent (IgG) antibodies in the blood against "Mycoplasma," an atypical bacterium commonly transmitted in schools and crowded environments.
Purpose: To identify the underlying cause of "atypical pneumonia" (pneumonia) characterized by a persistent, dry cough and fever lasting for weeks.
Toxicology and Trace Elements
MANGANESE Serum
Description: This refers to the blood level of manganese, a heavy metal that is essential for human health but can be neurotoxic (nerve-damaging) at high doses.
Objective: To monitor occupational exposure among workers in the mining and resources (industrial) sectors and to investigate the causes of Parkinson’s-like hand tremors.
MOLYBDENUM Serum
Description: This test measures the concentration of molybdenum—a trace element essential for the proper functioning of key metabolic enzymes in the body—in the blood.
Purpose: To determine whether there are any deficiencies in intensive care patients receiving intravenous (IV) nutrition and to screen for poisoning due to environmental exposure.