Spurious Hyperchloremia and Negative Anion Gap in a Child with Refractory Epilepsy

Authors

Madhuradhar Chegondi, Division of Critical Care Medicine and Nemours Children’s Hospital; University of Central Florida College of Medicine
Balagangadhar R. Totapally, Division of Critical Care Medicine and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital; Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International UniversityFollow

Date of this Version

1-10-2016

Document Type

Article

Abstract

We report a case with spurious hyperchloremia with negative anion gap in a child who was taking potassium bromide for refractory epilepsy. Blood chemistry showed a high chloride level (171?mEq/L) and a negative anion gap (?52?mEq/L). Plasma chloride concentration is measured by an ion-selective electrode method; however the presence of other anions like bromide and iodides can interfere with chloride level and largely overestimates the chloride concentration. Thus hyperchloremia with a negative anion gap is a clue to the diagnosis of halides like bromide and iodide ingestion.

Originally Published In

Case Reports in Critical Care

PMID

26981292

DOI

10.1155/2016/7015463

Recommended Citation

Chegondi, Madhuradhar and Totapally, Balagangadhar R., "Spurious Hyperchloremia and Negative Anion Gap in a Child with Refractory Epilepsy" (2016). All Faculty. 115.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/all_faculty/115

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.