Disease/Test Name

Method

Turn Around Time

Price

HIV Drug Resistance-Protease Inhibitors

PCR & RFLP

20 Days

Remarks: Sufficient amount of RNA may not be obtained  to be able to complete the test in low level viremia cases.  This test does not detect minor HIV-1 populations less than approximately 20 percent of the total population.  A patient's response to therapy depends on multiple factors including the percentage of a patient's viral population that is resistant, patient compliance, access to adequate care, optimal dosing, and drug pharmacology issues, including absorption, elimination, and drug interactions. Therefore, this test should be used only in conjunction with clinical presentation and other laboratory markers (e.g., symptoms, treatment history, clinical impressions, results from other tests, etc.) when making therapeutic decisions.