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Updated: Jan 21, 2026
Cardiac Stress Test Induced by Dobutamine and Monitored by Cardiac Catheterization in Mice
Published on: February 10, 2013
An investigation of enzymatic creatinine interference in a patient receiving dopamine and dobutamine
Jesse C Seegmiller1, Kathy A Larson2, Amy K Saenger1
1Advanced Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
Background:
A laboratory investigation was initiated after a renal failure patient had a 2.18 mg/dL decrease in serum creatinine, which was not explained through medical intervention. The investigation revealed specimens providing questionably low results had been collected from a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line.
Methods:
Patient specimens and serum pools were analyzed by the Siemens Vista enzymatic creatinine measurement procedure. A simulation of the patient's infusion protocol examined potential PICC line carryover and specimen collection technique.
Results:
A simultaneously collected specimen set, arterial line and PICC line, yielded a difference of 1.86 mg/dL. Infusion and collection simulation studies suggested the most likely scenario was the infusion pump was not shut off while the specimen collection occurred and contaminated the specimen.
Conclusion:
Providers should be aware of erroneously low creatinine results when administering catecholamine drugs and collecting specimens through the same catheter. The mechanism of specimen contamination is consistent with a siphoning effect from one lumen to the other during collection with the infusion pumps still running.
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