DOI: 10.12890/2021_003046

Severe Hypertriglyceridaemia Leading to Factitious Hypobicarbonataemia

Authors

  • Sasmit Roy Department of Internal Medicine, Centra Health, Lynchburg, VA, USA
  • Mohammed Ashraf Department of Internal Medicine, Centra Health, Lynchburg, VA, USA
  • Satbyul Sophia Kang Department of Internal Medicine, Centra Health, Lynchburg, VA, USA
  • Raul Ayala Department of Internal Medicine, Adventist Health, Hanford, CA, USA
  • Sreedhar Adapa Department of Internal Medicine, Kaweah Health Medical Center, Visalia, CA, USA

docsasmit@gmail.com

Keywords

Factitious hypobicarbonataemia, metabolic acidosis

Abstract

Anion gap metabolic acidosis is a laboratory finding commonly encountered in patients with sepsis, diabetic ketoacidosis, acute kidney injury and toxic alcohol ingestion. Serum blood chemistry assessment detects this abnormality. However, this can be falsely low in situations of high triglyceride levels due to lipid interference with measurement of the bicarbonate levels and through volume displacement by these large molecules. Arterial blood gas analysis and a lipid panel are required to confirm accurate bicarbonate levels. Clinicians handling acid-base disorders in hospitalized patients need to be aware of this spurious laboratory value to avoid unnecessary tests and to determine accurate total bicarbonate levels.

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References

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Published

2021-12-24

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 12 (2021)

How to Cite

1.
Roy S, Ashraf M, Kang SS, Ayala R, Adapa S. Severe Hypertriglyceridaemia Leading to Factitious Hypobicarbonataemia. EJCRIM [Internet]. 2021 Dec. 24 [cited 2026 Nov. 3];8(12). Available from: https://ejcrim.com/index.php/ejcrim/article/view/3046

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