Analytical interferences in biochemical tests in the clinical laboratory

Abstract

Analytical interference is defined as the effect that medications 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 test (2). One of the most important problems that occurs in the clinical laboratory are the "abnormal" results obtained in the samples of some patients and that cannot be correlated with the medical criteria. Undoubtedly, this causes confusion and lack of reliability in the treating physician towards the laboratory, this 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 laboratory or laboratories, it is likely that the results will be inconsistent with the first and that they will not coincide with the clinic. Therefore, the physician's distrust towards both laboratories is consolidated, making him think that the abnormal results are due to errors caused by a lack of quality control. The situation presented here makes it important to implement quality assurance programs in laboratories, so that unexpected results caused by interference can be quickly detected.