Point-of-care ketone meters may be used to estimate serum beta-hydroxybutyrate concentrations in healthy African penguins (Spheniscus demersus)

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the agreement between 3 point-of-care (POC) devices and a reference laboratory for measuring beta-hydroxybutyrate (beta-HB) concentration in African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) whole blood (WB) and plasma samples and the precision of each POC device for measuring beta-HB concentration in plasma samples. ANIMALS 48 healthy African penguins. PROCEDURES Blood was obtained from the right jugular vein of each penguin, and beta-HB concentration was measured on each POC device using fresh WB and heparinized plasma and at the reference laboratory using plasma. beta-HB concentration was measured in plasma on each POC device. RESULTS All devices overestimated serum beta-HB concentrations on average by 0.46 mM relative to the reference laboratory. WB samples had less error than plasma for meters A and C. Meter A had the lowest total error observed (26.4%) and the lowest mean difference (0.19 mmol/L) relative to the reference laboratory. Controlling for other factors, the magnitude of disagreement was not affected by sex, age, packed cell volume, or serum total solids concentration.