big difference in creatinine result! help!

hello people, my mother is 67 years old. Her serum creatinine 2 weeks ago was 122 umol/L. We took a repeat creatinine exam after two weeks (last Tuesday) and it increased to 133 umol/L at the same hospital. We wanted to get a second opinion in a different hospital. So today (Friday), she had her blood taken again. Guess what the result is, 48 umol/L.! It was a huge gap! Does that mean one of the hospitals is not accurate in their lab results?! She had a 10 hour fast prior to these 3 exams.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

It could be a defect with either lab or the results could have actually varied over time. You could test by sending the same sample or two samples taken on the same day to the two labs to see if there is any actual discrepancy.
Hope this helps.

Take care!