Leukocytosis and artifactual hypoglycemia.

Two patients are described with asymptomatic low blood glucose and excessive in vitro consumption of glucose by leukocytes before separation of the serum for assay. This may be a more common problem than is appreciated and need not be associated with leukemia or extreme leukocytosis. The circumstances that allow this avoidable type of artifactual hypoglycemia may also produce factitious euglycemia during evaluation of suspected diabetes mellitus.