Resumen

GLORIA-ESCOBAR, José M.; DUQUE-GONZALEZ, Laura; DIAZ-RUIZ, Jorge A.  y  DUQUE-RAMIREZ, Mauricio. Secundary erithrocitosis from congenital heart disease as a cause of pseudohiperkalemia. Rev. Colomb. Cardiol. [online]. 2021, vol.28, n.1, pp.74-79.  Epub 19-Mar-2021. ISSN 0120-5633.  https://doi.org/10.24875/rccar.m21000012.

Potassium is, without a doubt, one of the most important components of hydroelectrolitic balance, as well as being one of the most requested laboratory exams in the clinical setting. Hyperkalemia is defined as serum value above 5.5 mEq/L, and its main differential diagnosis is pseudohyperkalemia or spurious hyperkalemia. This conditioned is defined as an elevation of potassium levels exclusively in serum and not in plasma, with a minimal difference of 0.5 mEq/L between these measurements. Some of the causes of pseudohyperkalemia include mechanical factors, chemicals, contaminants, temperature and the time of sample processing. It is reported the case of a 22-year-old male with history of cyanotic heart disease that presented with a spurious elevation of serum potassium, with a severe increment in hematocrit and concomitant thrombocytopenia, that would later show normal levels in plasma.

Palabras clave : Polycythemia; Congenital heart disease; Thrombocytopenia.

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