Misleading acute hypercalcemia due to hyperlipidemia: a method-dependent error.

Endocrine Practice : Official Journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
I SachmechiF Rosner

Abstract

To report a case of artifactual hypercalcemia in a patient with hyperlipidemia. We present clinical data and laboratory findings in a 33-year-old woman with generalized fatigue, a recent 5-kg weight loss, and a papular rash on the extremities as well as a history of diabetes and hypertension. Physical examination revealed an obese patient with eruptive xanthomas and lipemia retinalis. Laboratory tests showed hyperlipidemia, hypercalcemia (serum calcium measured by spectrophotometry), anemia, hyperproteinemia, hyperuricemia, and hyperbilirubinemia. After 4 days of a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet and gemfibrozil therapy, the serum triglyceride level decreased, and the serum calcium concentration returned to normal. In patients with hypercalcemia without an obvious cause, a spurious measurement should be considered.

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