TY - JOUR
T1 - Factitious hyperkalemia
AU - Wiederkehr, M. R.
AU - Moe, O. W.
N1 - Funding Information:
Supported in part by the Department of Veterans Affairs Research Service; grant no. 98G-052 from the American Heart Association Texas Affiliate; and grants no. DK48482 and DK-54396 from the National Institutes of Health.
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - Pseudohyperkalemia, or factitious hyperkalemia, constitutes an artificially high plasma potassium level (P(K)) from a variety of possible causes. Occasionally, the cause cannot be elucidated. Three patients who showed unusually large differences between free-flowing and tourniquet (stasis) potassium levels prompted us to investigate the influence of tourniquets in routine phlebotomy in eight healthy volunteers. P(K) showed a consistent but rather small average increase of 0.2 mEq/L (P < 0.001) during tourniquet use; however, the range was 10-fold, from 0.05 to 0.5 mEq/L in our subjects. We suggest there may be large variability leading to an excessive increase in P(K) in some individuals. In the three patients presented, average excessive increases in P(K) of 1.6, 1.3, and 1.7 mEq/L were seen. Although diagnosing and treating true hyperkalemia remains paramount, recognizing factitious hyperkalemia is important to preclude unnecessary investigations and potentially hazardous intervention. (C) 2000 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.
AB - Pseudohyperkalemia, or factitious hyperkalemia, constitutes an artificially high plasma potassium level (P(K)) from a variety of possible causes. Occasionally, the cause cannot be elucidated. Three patients who showed unusually large differences between free-flowing and tourniquet (stasis) potassium levels prompted us to investigate the influence of tourniquets in routine phlebotomy in eight healthy volunteers. P(K) showed a consistent but rather small average increase of 0.2 mEq/L (P < 0.001) during tourniquet use; however, the range was 10-fold, from 0.05 to 0.5 mEq/L in our subjects. We suggest there may be large variability leading to an excessive increase in P(K) in some individuals. In the three patients presented, average excessive increases in P(K) of 1.6, 1.3, and 1.7 mEq/L were seen. Although diagnosing and treating true hyperkalemia remains paramount, recognizing factitious hyperkalemia is important to preclude unnecessary investigations and potentially hazardous intervention. (C) 2000 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.
KW - Factitious hyperkalemia
KW - Potassium
KW - Pseudohyperkalemia
KW - Tourniquet phlebotomy
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U2 - 10.1053/ajkd.2000.19084
DO - 10.1053/ajkd.2000.19084
M3 - Article
C2 - 11054365
AN - SCOPUS:0033764227
SN - 0272-6386
VL - 36
SP - 1049
EP - 1053
JO - American Journal of Kidney Diseases
JF - American Journal of Kidney Diseases
IS - 5
ER -