Falsely elevated serum creatinine levels secondary to the presence of 5-fluorocytosine.

The Kodak Ektachem (Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, NY) is a new clinical chemistry analyzer that uses an enzymatic method to measure creatinine. The authors report the case of a patient with falsely elevated creatinine levels that were caused by the presence of 5-fluorocytosine. A review of the literature confirmed that this can occur, but well documented reports are not found. In order to determine the magnitude of this interference, the authors plotted creatinine levels versus 5-FC concentration. Significant interference is seen with therapeutic levels of 5-FC. Both clinicians and pathologists should be aware of this phenomenon.