False-positive ethylene glycol levels in patients with diabetic ketoacidosis.
OBJECTIVE
To describe two patients with diabetic ketoacidosis and positive ethylene glycol levels and to call attention to the possibility of a false-positive ethylene glycol determination in patients with ketoacidosis.


METHODS
Clinical manifestations and laboratory tests in the two patients were summarized. Serum specimens for both patients were analyzed for ethylene glycol, serum ketones, glucose, osmolality, pH, and electrolytes.


RESULTS
Respective laboratory findings in our two patients were as follows: serum glucose levels, 56.4 and 45.7 mmol/L; serum acetone, positive in 1:80 and 1:128 dilution; serum osmolality, 366 and 377 mmol/kg; pH, 6.9 and 7.2; and ethylene glycol, 3.46 and 2.45 mmol/L.


CONCLUSIONS
Neither of these two elderly women had ingested ethylene glycol; nevertheless, both had positive results for ethylene glycol on a blood toxicology screen. Review of the literature demonstrates that false-positive ethylene glycol levels can be detected in patients with ketoacidosis. This information is documented in this report and should alert practicing physicians to such a possibility.
Martinez
C
C
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Allegheny University Hospitals (Hahnemann, Division), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Lubbos
H
H
Rose
L I
LI
Swartz
C
C
Kayne
F
F