Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

The perennial problem with potassium.

Andrew K Trull1, Christopher Jackson, Sarah Walsh

  • 1Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK. Andrew.Trull@papworth.nhs.uk

Annals of Clinical Biochemistry
|January 10, 2004
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Harnessing Regulatory T Cells to Modulate Acute Brain Injury: From Mechanisms to Therapy.

Molecular neurobiology·2026
Same author

CACE-MM: using mixed methods to strengthen causal inference in medicine and public health.

BMC medical research methodology·2026
Same author

Efficacy of Inebilizumab in N-MOmentum Trial Participants With or Without Prior Immunosuppressants.

Annals of clinical and translational neurology·2026
Same author

Astrocytes mediate the pro-cognitive value of α7nAChRs and of α7nAChR-targeting therapeutics.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Non-severe burn injury leads to sustained molecular changes in the brain in a murine model.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

Functional Neuroimaging Biomarkers of Impaired Neurocognition After Proton Beam Radiotherapy for Brain Tumors in Pediatric Patients: A Prospective Trial.

Neuro-oncology·2026
Same journal

Routine laboratory triage for NT-proBNP elevation may reflect cardiorenal frailty as much as heart failure specificity.

Annals of clinical biochemistry·2026
Same journal

From interpretable NT-proBNP prediction to equitable laboratory stewardship.

Annals of clinical biochemistry·2026
Same journal

Serum Sclerostin Levels in Children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta.

Annals of clinical biochemistry·2026
Same journal

Population-Specific HOMA-IR Reference Ranges in Iraq: Defining Insulin Sensitivity in a Middle Eastern Cohort.

Annals of clinical biochemistry·2026
Same journal

Optimizing Laboratory Quality with Sigma Metrics: Application of CLIA 2024 Total Allowable Error Guidelines.

Annals of clinical biochemistry·2026
Same journal

Suspected thermal amplitude of cryoglobulin likely more clinically significant than size detected: A case report.

Annals of clinical biochemistry·2026
See all related articles

Spurious hyperkalaemia in blood samples from general practitioners (GP) is a risk. Low delivery temperatures significantly increase the chance of inaccurate potassium measurements, especially below 20.3°C.

Area of Science:

  • Clinical Chemistry
  • Laboratory Medicine
  • Patient Safety

Background:

  • Spurious hyperkalaemia in blood samples from general practitioners (GP) surgeries causes diagnostic confusion and patient risk.
  • The influence of transit time and temperature on serum potassium measurements from GP samples requires investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the impact of blood sample delivery time and temperature on spurious serum potassium measurements from GP surgeries.
  • To identify critical temperature thresholds that increase the risk of inaccurate potassium results.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective audit of 51,843 serum potassium measurements from hospital and GP samples (August 2001-February 2002).
  • Prospective audit of 40 serum potassium measurements from a GP surgery (February-May 2002).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Least-squares multiple linear regression analysis to model the probability of spurious results based on delivery time and temperature.

    • Main Results:

    • Low blood sample delivery temperature had a greater impact on spurious potassium measurements than delivery time.
    • Low temperatures disproportionately increased the risk of spurious hyperkalaemia compared to spurious normokalaemia.
    • At temperatures below 20.3°C, the risk of spurious hyperkalaemia and normokalaemia significantly increased for samples from both distant and nearby GP surgeries.

    Conclusions:

    • Maintaining blood sample delivery temperatures slightly above 20°C is crucial.
    • This temperature control will minimize the risk of spurious serum potassium measurements in samples from GP patients.