Hypertriglyceridemia Interferes with Hemoglobin Detection and Calibration Methods

Hemoglobin (HGB) is a pigment protein found in human red blood cells. Laboratories usually measure hemoglobin using a colorimetric method. The factor that causes the increase of blood turbidity (hypertri-glyceridemia) can lead to the false increase of HGB, and also cause a significant increase of MCH and MCHC.

By means of a case of hypertriglyceridemia, plasma exchange and formula substitution methods were used to establish a reliable calibration method for hemoglobin (HGB) determination.

After calibration, the corrected final values of HGB and its related indexes MCH and MCHC differ greatly from the instrument values. We reported the calibrated results to clinicians.

When using a commonly used clinical hematology analyzer to detect hemoglobin, when encountering high TG samples, plasma exchange and formula substitution methods can be used. It can quickly help us correct the HGB, MCH, and MCHC values in blood lipid samples and provide clinicians with accurate reports.