ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pregnancy is described as a normal physiologic state associated with various biochemical changes. Magnesium and calcium are essential macronutrients required for foetal growth. Complications associated with their deficiency during normal pregnancy include; low neonatal birth weight, pre-eclampsia, eclampsia and preterm labour. Changes in serum levels of magnesium and calcium in normal pregnancy have not been extensively studied among Ghanaian women. AIM: To determine the variation in serum magnesium and calcium levels with gestational age in normal pregnancy in Ghanaian women. METHODS: A hospital-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 32 normal non-pregnant women (Group A) and 100 normal pregnant women (Group B) attending the clinic at the Korle-Bu Teaching hospital. The group B pregnant women were further divided into Group B1 (n = 33), Group B2 (n = 37) and Group B3 (n = 30) based on their pregnancy gestation as first, second and third trimester respectively. Blood samples were obtained from the antecubital vein of subjects and total serum calcium, magnesium, protein and albumin were estimated. Data obtained were analysed using SPSS for windows version 20. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to determine the statistical differences between the groups. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Mean serum total calcium and magnesium in first, second and third trimester normal pregnant women were 2.14 ± 0.16, 2.13 ± 0.44, 2.13 ± 0.35 mmol/L and 0.77 ± 0.11, 0.77 ± 0.16 and 0.76 ± 0.14 mmol/L respectively. Mean serum total calcium and magnesium levels in non-pregnant women were 2.20 ± 0.16 and 0.80 ± 0.10 mmol/L respectively. There was a statistically non-significant difference in serum total calcium and magnesium between non-pregnant and normal pregnant women, with p-values of 0.779 and 0.566 respectively. Mean total serum protein and albumin in first, second and third-trimester normal pregnant women were 68.42 ± 10.37, 70.46 ± 6.84, 66.70 ± 7.83 g/L and 39.92 ± 3.22, 40.75 ± 8.06, 38.26 ± 3.02 g/L respectively. Mean total serum protein and albumin in non-pregnant women were 73.13 ± 7.02 and 42.94 ± 3.03 g/L respectively. Mean total serum protein and albumin levels were lower in pregnant women as compared to non-pregnant women with the difference being significant in the third trimester (p-values of 0.012 and 0.002). CONCLUSION: Total serum calcium and magnesium levels in normal pregnancy were non-significantly lower compared to non-pregnant women in Ghana. There was a reduction in total serum protein, and albumin levels during pregnancy with a significant reduction noticed during the third trimester compared to the non-pregnant state.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Potassium and magnesium are the two most abundant intra-cellular cations. They play pivotal roles in many essential biological processes. Deficiencies of these electrolytes are of clinical importance in hospitalised patients. AIM: To determine the relationship between serum total magnesium and potassium levels in adult patients requiring an emergency intra-abdominal surgery and the clinical utility of this relationship in the care of patients. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted over a five month period at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. All 101 adult patients admitted for emergency intra-abdominal surgery, who met the inclusion criteria and gave informed consent, were consecutively recruited and enrolled into the study. Patients' characteristics preoperative total serum magnesium, serum potassium and albumin levels were determined. Regression analysis and correlation coefficients were used to determine the relation between serum magnesium and potassium. Analysis was done using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: Mean serum total magnesium and serum potassium were 0.66±0.20mmol/L and 3.79±0.65mmol/L respectively. There was a significant but weak positive correlation between serum hypokalaemia and serum magnesium levels. Pearson's correlation coefficient (2 tailed) was 0.21, R(2)= 0.04, p = value 0.038. Analysis generated a regression model: [Mg] = 0.06[K] + 0.42mmol/L, with a p-value = 0.038. CONCLUSION: A mathematical relationship was found between serum total magnesium and serum potassium among adult patients who require emergency intra-abdominal surgery. However, it had limited clinical utility. FUNDING: None declared.
