Pseudohyperkalemia can appear in a variety of settings and should be recognized early. Treatment of pseudohyperkalemia can lead to an inappropriate decrease of actual serum potassium levels which may lead to life threatening conditions. In the case presented, an 81-year-old male presented with massive leucocytosis and an extremely elevated potassium level. This case report emphasizes the import...

Falsely elevated serum or plasma potassium level can be the result of mechanical injury to blood cells. We describe pseudohyperkalaemia caused by pneumatic tube transport of blood specimens from a patient with leukaemia. Clinicians should be aware of this possibility when interpreting the clinical significance of hyperkalaemia. In leukaemic patients, pneumatic tube transport of blood specimens ...

Background: Sickle cell anaemia, a type of haemoglobinopathy is associated with biochemical abnormalities such as imbalance of electrolytes. Aim: To determine and evaluate saliva as a biochemical indicator for electrolyte estimation in sickle cell anaemic patients. Materials and methods: 30 children in the age group of 4-12 years were split into two equal groups: sickle cell anaemia group and c...

A 48-year-old obese male (body mass index, 33), who was an active smoker, was admitted to our department to undergo percutaneous angioplasty of a markedly stenosed left renal artery. Six months earlier, severe hypertension (blood pressure, 200/100 mm Hg) associated with hypokalemia of renal origin (serum potassium level, 3.1 mmol/l; urinary potassium, 75 mmol/day) and stage III chronic kidney d...

OBJECTIVE Impaired glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity have been reported in patients with Gitelman syndrome (GS), but insulin secretion and the related mechanisms are not well understood. DESIGN AND METHODS The serum glucose levels, insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity were evaluated in patients with GS (n = 28), patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and healthy individuals...

Hyperkalemia is a potentially life-threatening electrolyte imbalance that can lead to sudden death from cardiac arrhythmias and asystole. We present a case of transient left bundle branch block pattern on an electrocardiogram (ECG) secondary to hyperkalemia in a patient with history of end-stage renal disease. A 52-year-old man presented to the emergency room (ER) with chief complaints of weakn...

HWTI is a 55-residue protein isolated from the venom of the spider Ornithoctonus huwena. It is a potent trypsin inhibitor and a moderate voltage-gated potassium channel blocker. Here, we designed and expressed two HWTI mutants, HWTI-mut1 and HWTI-mut2, in which the potassium channel inhibitory activity was reduced while the trypsin inhibitory activity of the wild type form (approximately 5 EPU/...