Original ArticlePopulation-Based Incidence of Potentially Life-Threatening Complications of Hypocalcemia and the Role of Vitamin D Deficiency
Section snippets
Methods
We conducted a population-based descriptive study in Olmsted County, Minnesota, using the database of the Rochester Epidemiology Project. The Rochester Epidemiology Project database is a population-based medical record linkage system that includes >50 years of health care use, diagnostic, and laboratory data from virtually all medical providers in Olmsted County, Minnesota, covering 98% of all health care services provided for Olmsted County residents.21, 22 The county is served by 2 large
Results
Between January 1, 1996, and June 30, 2017, 1305 of 15 419 patients aged 0-5 years in Olmsted County had eligible life-threatening complications. Specifically, 930 patients had seizures, 338 had cardiac arrest, 105 had respiratory arrest, 75 had laryngospasm, 66 had cardiomyopathy, and 2 had tetany. Among these patients, 460 (35%) had a serum calcium level measurement and 85 (18.5% of patients with a serum calcium level measured) had a serum calcium below the laboratory reference range for
Discussion
For the majority of children with life-threatening complications of hypocalcemia, it is unknown whether vitamin D deficiency contributed to their hypocalcemia, because serum 25(OH)D was never measured. Despite this, we confirmed 2 cases of hypocalcemic cardiac and respiratory arrest owing to severe vitamin D deficiency, which was associated with rickets. Their 25(OH)D values of ≤6 ng/mL placed them profoundly below the lower end of the recommended minimum of 20 ng/mL. Both were breastfed and
Data Statement
Data sharing statement available at www.jpeds.com.
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Supported by the US National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1 TR002377). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.