Interfering heterophile antibodies as the cause of persistently falsely elevated high-sensitivity troponin I on Alinity i: a case report

Hereby we describe a case of a 59-year-old female patient with persistently elevated high-sensitivity troponin I (hs-TnI) over the course of almost four years measured on Alinity i with the corresponding assay (Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, USA). The patient underwent multiple extensive cardiological evaluations, but none of them suggested acute or chronic cardiac damage. Therefore, interference in measurement was suspected by the attending cardiologist and a detailed, stepwise laboratory investigation was undertaken in the sample with initial hs-TnI result of 2077 ng/L. Serial sample dilutions (1:2,1:5,1:10) did not match the expected, calculated hs-TnI concentrations, yielding both huge positive biases (62, 109 and 139%, respectively) and absolute differences (639, 453 and 290 ng/L, respectively). Precipitation with polyethylene-glycol, pretreatment in heterophilic blocking tubes (HBT) and immunoglobulin G depletion yielded hs-TnI results below the assay's diagnostic cut-off (< 15.6 ng/L). Alternate hs-TnI immunoassays (Siemens Healthineers, Beckman Coulter and Snibe) and measurement with the high-sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) assay yielded results below assays' specific cut-off values. This investigation confirmed that results of hs-TnI obtained by the Abbott assay were spuriously elevated. Significant lowering of hs-TnI after HBT pretreatment indicated that heterophile antibodies are the most probable source of interference. Based on this finding, it was entered in the patient's medical record that future determinations of cardiac troponin should be performed with an alternate hs-TnI or hs-TnT assay. This case emphasizes that analytical interferences are usually immunoassay-dependent. Evaluation of laboratory results in the clinical context and close collaboration between laboratory and clinical staff is crucial for their recognition.