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Pseudohyperkalemia Associated With Leukemia
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Pseudohyperkalemia Associated With Leukemia

Biraj Shrestha, Swarup Sharma Rijal, Arpan Pokhrel, Anish Paudel, Krantikiran Baral, Bidhya Poudel, Sijan Basnet and Anthony Donato
Curēus (Palo Alto, CA), v 14(4), 23978
09 Apr 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.23978
PMID: 35541290
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.23978View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Hematology Internal Medicine Nephrology
Elevated potassium levels can be a life-threatening emergency. We describe a case of falsely elevated serum potassium level in a patient with leukemia, which was suspected to be falsely elevated because the patient was asymptomatic with a normal electrocardiogram (EKG). Common reasons behind such a discrepancy in leukemia patients are the use of a tourniquet before collection, use of vacuum/pneumatic tubes for transportation, prolonged periods of incubation, use of heparin for sample collection, and processing of samples via centrifugation. Since the process is related to the method of collection and processing, we recommend using rapid point of care testing in such cases to differentiate between false and true potassium elevation, as it is a well-validated tool. Moreover, there is a good correlation between potassium measured with the blood gas, point of care, and central laboratory analyzers when the concentration of potassium is above 3 mEq/L.

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Web of Science research areas
Medicine, General & Internal
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