Intravenous fluorescein interference with clinical laboratory tests

The results of laboratory tests performed after fluorescein angiography may be erroneous because of interference by intravenous fluorescein. We investigated this potential interference in four adults at intervals of five minutes, three hours, six hours, and 12 hours after fluorescein injection. We used a panel of serum and urine chemistry tests on seven commonly used instruments. A significant change in the reported concentration of a serum or urine analyte was defined as a result beyond +/- 3 coefficients of variation of the preinjection baseline value for the test on a specific instrument. The determinations of creatinine, total protein, cortisol, digoxin, quinidine, and thyroxine in serum were affected by intravenous fluorescein. The urine tests were unaltered. The physician must be aware of the problem of interpreting clinical chemistry results after fluorescein angiography.