Spurious hypokalemia in horses : the role of serum insulin levels and sample storage conditions

Abstract

Spurious hypokalemia is a laboratory result that is "analytically correct but does not reflect the in vivo plasma potassium concentration" (GAMA et al., 2011.). Not correlated to the clinical presentation, it can lead to misdiagnosis and unnecessary and dangerous choices of treatment. From 2009 to 2014, 11,5% of horses' laboratory results from PraxisLab veterinary laboratories presented unexplained hypokalemia. These results lead us to study the effects of high ambient temperature, delayed serum separation and postprandial insulin levels in equine blood samples.