What causes spurious hypocalcemia?
- Colorimetric assays are frequently used to quantify total serum calcium. The widely used arsenazo–III reagent blocks the detection of calcium by forming complexes with specific gadolinium compounds, such as gadodiamide and gadoversetamide.
- The artifact, which can have a concentration of up to 6 mg/dL, will remain until the gadolinium is eliminated from the body.
- In this case, the ionized calcium remains unaltered and can verify the false hypocalcemia.
