Multiple spurious laboratory results in a patient with hyperlipemic pancreatitis treated by plasmapheresis.

Hyperlipidemia is a known cause for acute pancreatitis. Hyperlipidemia may also produce multiple spurious laboratory results that may complicate the diagnosis and management of pancreatitis. We encountered such a patient who had the following spurious laboratory results: normal serum amylase activity, hyponatremia, and high hemoglobin levels. These laboratory artifacts were previously described, mostly separately. In addition, our patient had artifactual thrombocytopenia. The patient improved dramatically following plasmapheresis, which enhanced reduction of serum lipids.