What are the causes of Pseudohyperkalemia?

One of the most common causes of pseudohyperkalemia is hemolysis of red blood cells during collection. Fortunately, hemolysis of red blood cells is easily and routinely detected by chemistry platforms colorimetrically and results can be suspended or suppressed if hemolysis is detected.

How do platelets affect potassium?

We compared the potassium levels in simultaneous serum and plasma samples from patients with normal and elevated platelet counts, since platelet activation during clot formation is associated with release of potassium.

Is Pseudohyperkalemia common?

Pseudohyperkalemia is relatively common in blood samples collected in primary care, most often caused by incorrect blood collection, inap- propriate storage conditions, and delayed trans- port to the laboratory (1).

What does Pseudohyperkalemia mean?

Pseudohyperkalemia is the term applied to the clinical situation in which in vitro lysis of cellular contents leads to measurement of a high serum potassium level that does not reflect the true in vivo level.

How do I know if I have Pseudohyperkalemia?

Affected patients had increased serum potassium but much lower (normal) plasma potassium. As a result of this early observation, pseudohyperkalemia has been defined as marked elevation of serum potassium (>0.4 mmol/L) compared to plasma potassium [6].

How is Pseudohyperkalemia diagnosed?

The diagnosis of pseudohyperkalemia can be made by comparing the level of serum and plasma potassium with an expectation that the serum potassium will be higher than the plasma potassium [8].

How do you confirm Pseudohyperkalemia?

Pseudohyperkalemia can be confirmed by determining plasma potassium in vacuum tubes with lithium heparin after centrifugation, and/or by whole blood potassium determination in electrolyte balanced lithium heparin syringe (5).

How can you prevent Pseudohyperkalemia?

Regarding causes of pseudohyperkalemia, the Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute (or CLSI) has a number of relevant recommendations in the guideline document CLSI GP41-ED 7, also called “Collection of Diagnostic Venous Blood Specimens.” The guidelines suggest keeping tourniquet time under one minute, avoiding …

How can you tell the difference between hyperkalemia and Pseudohyperkalemia?

True hyperkalemia can result from renal dysfunction, endocrinopathies, drug effects, and extreme diet changes [3,4]. Pseudohyperkalemia describes a falsely elevated potassium level upon measurement of the serum electrolyte concentration due to disruption of cells during the collection or processing of the sample [4].

Do you treat Pseudohyperkalemia?

Pseudohyperkalemia is believed to be an in vitro phenomenon that does not reflect in vivo serum potassium and therefore should not be treated. Here, we present a case who unfortunately underwent unnecessary treatment because of failure to detect the common lab abnormality of pseudohyperkalemia. Case Presentation.

Should Pseudohyperkalemia be treated?

Spurious elevation of blood potassium levels is known to occur in cases of extreme leukocytosis and should not be treated unless the patient is symptomatic or has EKG changes. The treatment of hyperkalemia multiple times in such cases can lead to deleterious effects.