Hypercalcaemia in active pulmonary tuberculosis

ABSTRACT

This study was done on 86 patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. Hypercalcaemia was found in 26 patients. The majority of cases [75.2%] has mild rise in the calcium. Hypercalcaemia was detected on presentation in 18 patients and developed in 8 others two weeks after starting antituberculous chemotherapy. Moreover, hypercalcaemia was more frequent in patients older than 50 years [P< 0.05], but this did not correlate with the extent of the disease shown on radiological pictures. Serum calcium was reverted to normal spontaneously two to four months following the start of antituberculosis treatment. The prevalence of hypercalcaemia inspite of absence of vitamin D supplements support the view that vitamin D intake does not play a major role in inducing hypercalcaemia in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. We suggest that this may be the result of the tuberculous process as it cleared with continuation of chemotherapy