Diagnosis includes assessment of kidney and heart function, including blood tests and electrocardiogram (ECG) to determine whether the hyperkalemia requires immediate emergency treatment.
More than half of predialysis CKD patients develop hyperkalemia.
People with chronic kidney disease, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and those taking blood pressure medicines called renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASi) have an estimated 2 to 3 times higher risk for hyperkalemia.
The true incidence and prevalence of hyperkalemia is not known, but it has been estimated to be 2-3% in the general population 7,8 and 1% to 10% among hospitalized patients.
It is often performed as part of a basic metabolic panel, which checks for several conditions, including kidney function and diabetes. This is usually part of a routine blood test given during a physical exam. The healthcare provider draws a small blood sample, and sends it to a laboratory for analysis.
A person's potassium levels can be easily checked with a simple blood test.
Chronic hyperkalemia develops over the course of weeks to months, may be persistent or develop periodically, and requires ongoing outpatient management. 5 Acute hyperkalemia represents a single event, occurring over hours to days and usually requires emergency treatment.
Hyperkalemia is further classified as chronic or acute.
6 Arbitrary thresholds are used to indicate degree of severity, such as mild (>5.0), moderate (>5.5), and severe (>6.0).5,7 Clinical severity is determined by the speed of onset, magnitude of the severity, and the development of clinical findings.
5 Paresthesia is an abnormal sensation of tingling, numbness, or burning that is usually felt in the hands, feet, arms, or legs.
If symptoms do occur, they are often nonspecific such as heart palpitations, nausea, weakness, or paresthesia.
1-3 There are often no warning signs, meaning a person can have high potassium without knowing it. It can cause serious heart problems and sudden death.
High levels of potassium in the blood (called hyperkalemia) is unpredictable and can be life-threatening.