Hypocalcaemia among children up to two years old in children Tripoli hospital

Abstract

 Hypocalcaemia is a state when serum calcium levels are < 7 mg/dl in preterm neonates and < 8 mg/dl in term neonates and < 8.5 mg/dl in older children. Prospective analytical study was performed in children, < 2 years, who admitted in Hospital with hypocalcaemia or discovered hypocalcaemia during admission. Biochemical serum investigations from the patients (S. Ca, Ph, alk ph, Mg, Hb, PTH, Urea and S. Cr) and X. ray of left hand wrist. 63 children (44 boys, 19 girls) the difference was statistically significant and age ranging from one day to 2 years with mean age of 5 ± 5.6 months, 46% of the patients are exclusive breast feeding and 41.4% of them are symptomatic at age between 6 to 12 months of age and most of bottle feeding babies (90%) are symptomatic early below 6 months of age. Most of the patients presented with abnormal movement (85.7%) and 12.7% are asymptomatic. 1.6% of the patients presented with bow legs, 14% of the patients were preterm, all of preterm patients are significantly presented early than term patients and 16% of the patients are IUGR, and they are significantly presented early and about 6% of the patients are infant of diabetic mother and significantly presented early, 73% of the mothers are multipara and 27% of the mothers are primigravida, 93.8% of primigravida mothers had normal. Serum calcium was compared with 80.5% of multiparty mothers; the difference was statistically not significant. All the patients had low serum calcium levels but serum phosphorous levels varied and about alkaline phosphatase, 62.7% of patients have high and 37.3% have normal serum alkaline phosphates, about 61% have high serum PTH. 37% have normal serum PTH and 2% have low serum PTH, 66.7% of breast feeding and 6.1% of bottle feeding patients have ricketic x-ray changes, this is not significant. 88.9% of babies of hypocalcemic mothers have ricketic bone changes; most of the babies of hypocalcemic mothers are presented early 77.8% less than 6 months of age. Thus, infants under 2 years of age are liable to have vitamin D deficiency rickets particularly if they are exclusively breastfed with reduced exposure to sunlight, seizures are the most important presented symptom of hypocalcaemia.