Pseudohyperkalemia is a spuriously high serum potassium measurement in a patient with no clinical evidence of hyperkalemia. It has been reported to occur in patients with leukocytosis and thrombocytosis. Only a few cases of pseudohyperkalemia have been reported in patients after splenectomy. Two cases of pseudohyperkalemia occurring after emergency splenectomy for abdominal trauma are presented to highlight their clinical presentation and sequalae. Consecutive patients who underwent emergency splenectomy for trauma and subsequently developed pseudohyperkalemia were monitored in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre for their clinical sequalae. Both the patients developed leukocytosis, thrombocytosis and high serum potassium level within 2-weeks of their splenectomies. They did not demonstrate any symptoms and signs of hyperkalemia. Their conditions resolved spontaneously without any specific treatment. Pseudohyperkalemia should be suspected in a similar clinical scenario to avoid unnecessary treatment that could lead to severe hypokalemia.
The presence of thrombus within the inferior vena cava (IVC) is often a sign of advance hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Various treatment methods have been described with variable and inconclusive results. Now, the advancement of endovascular approach offers new possibility as a potential treatment modality. We discuss the removal of tumour thrombus with catheter directed mechanical thrombectomy. IVC tumour secondary HCC was removed by AngioJet® rheolytic system (Possis Medical, Minneapolis, MN, USA) with good result. Further work should be encouraged to explore the prospect of this technique with other treatment modalities.