Analytical interferences in biochemical tests in the clinical laboratory

Abstract

Analytical interference is defined as the effect that drugs, and/or their metabolites, chemical compounds or physical factors have on any of the stages of the analytical determination of any component of clinical interest, producing measurable changes in the component analyzed during the assay ( 2).   One of the most important problems that arises in the clinical laboratory are the "abnormal" results that are obtained in the samples of some patients and that cannot be correlated with medical criteria.   Undoubtedly, this causes confusion and lack of trustworthiness in the treating doctor toward the laboratory, which leads to a delay in an adequate diagnosis and prolongs the treatment and therapeutic control of the patient. When these patients are referred to another or other laboratories, it is likely that the results will be inconsistent with the first one and that they will not coincide either. They find the clinic.   Therefore, the doctor's distrust of both laboratories is consolidated, suggesting that the abnormal results are due to errors caused by lack of quality control. The situation presented here makes it important to implement quality assurance programs in laboratories, so that unexpected results produced by interested parties can be quickly detected.