Hypovitaminosis D and Hypocalcemic Seizures in Infancy.

Mehrotra, P; Marwaha, R K; Aneja, S; Seth, Anju; Singla, B M; Ashraf, Ganie; Sharma, B; Sastry, Aparna; Tandon, N

Background:

Hypocalcemia accounts for a majority of seizures in infants reporting to the emergency ward of our hospital.

Objective:

To evaluate the role of Vitamin D deficiency in the etiology of hypocalcemic seizures in infancy. Design and

Setting:

Cross sectional hospital based study, from April 2006-March 2007.

Subjects:

60 infants with hypocalcemic seizures and their mothers (study group) and 60 healthy breastfed infants with their lactating mothers (control group). Measurements Vitamin D [25(OH) D] and intact parathormone levels.

Results:

High prevalence of hypovitaminosis D [25(OH)D levels <10 ng/mL] was observed in study mothers (85%), control mothers (50%), study infants (90%), and control infants (41.7%). Mean serum 25(OH) D values in study mothers and their infants (6.54 ± 5.32 ng/mL and 4.92 ± 4.62 ng/mL) were significantly lower than those of motherinfant pairs (9.06 ± 4.78 ng/mL and 9.03 ± 4.63 ng/mL) in the control group (P<0.001). A strong positive correlation of 25(OH) D levels between mothers and their infants was seen in both the study and control populations (P<0.001). Of the 54 study infants who had 25(OH)D levels <10ng/ mL, 48 (89%) were born to mothers who also had 25(OH) D levels <10ng/mL.

Conclusions:

Vitamin D deficiency is a major cause of hypocalcemic seizures in infants. Infants born to vitamin D deficient mothers are at a significantly higher risk to develop hypocalcemic seizures.

Biblioteca Virtual en Salud

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