Erratum

There are some changes to the article: Gordon G. Hyperthyroidism in cats: should we be routinely tesing for early diagnosis? The Veterinary Nurse. 2019; 10(8):444–452.

Having had an expert review and analyse the original raw data of this study (post publication), a few questions have come to light. Due to human error on the researchers behalf, the expert found a very small error in the original data in that one cat with a T4 value of 48 nmol/litre had been counted twice in the analyse thus making the overall prevalence of cats with a T4 value >48nmol/litre being 36.6% and not 37.6%.

The main finding of the study (that a large proportion of T4 levels in cats not showing any signs of hyperthyroidism were above the normal range) is unexpected and the expert had three questions:

‘You say in your Methods section that each test on the inhouse analyser that came back as hyperthyroid (i.e., was above 48 nmol/litre) was sent to an external laboratory for confirmation. I assume that confirmation was another measurement of T4 on the same blood sample. Which external laboratory did you send the blood to, and do you know what analyser they used? I assume (I don't think you actually say in your paper) that the external lab result actually did confirm each high result on the in-house analyser?’