Potassium Test, K+
The Potassium Test measures the level of potassium in your blood serum. Potassium is a vital electrolyte and a key mineral required for numerous essential bodily functions, particularly the electrical signaling in nerve and muscle cells (including the heart).
Because potassium plays such a direct role in heart rhythm, levels that are too high (hyperkalemia) or too low (hypokalemia) are considered medical emergencies that can lead to serious, life-threatening heart arrhythmias.
Measuring serum potassium is a routine part of many comprehensive blood panels, but is especially critical in specific clinical situations:
- Monitoring Heart Function: Assessing patients with known or suspected heart conditions, particularly those who have abnormal heart rhythms.
- Kidney Disease: The kidneys are the primary regulators of potassium levels. Patients with acute or chronic kidney failure often develop dangerous hyperkalemia (high potassium).
- Drug Monitoring: Monitoring patients taking medications that affect potassium levels, such as diuretics (water pills, which can cause low Potassium (K+) or ACE inhibitors/ARBs (which can cause high Potassium (K+).
- Investigating Symptoms: Evaluating symptoms of extreme muscle weakness, fatigue, or unexplained confusion, which can be signs of a potassium imbalance.
