Hypocalcaemia of acute pancreatitis: the effect of hypoalbuminaemia.
Hypoalbuminaemia has been consistently observed in a prospective study of 130 patients with acute pancreatitis. A study was initiated, therefore, to find out if the hypocalcaemia of acute pancreatitis could be explained by the associated hypoalbuminaemia. 64.4% of all serum calcium results were in the apparently hypocalcaemic range. A comparable incidence of hypoalbuminaemia was observed. The 'uncorrected' total serum calcium and serum albumin showed a similar pattern in their daily changes and also a significant correlation overall. When correction of serum calcium was made for albumin levels, only 10.9% of all results represented varying degrees of 'true' hypocalcaemia. Mortality and severity of acute pancreatitis related as closely to hypoalbuminaemia as to uncorrected hypocalcaemia. It is concluded that a low serum albumin should be regarded as the most common cause of a low serum calcium in acute pancreatitis. Routine albumin administration is proposed, a procedure which has been shown to be associated with improved mortality rate and morbidity in this disease.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000418:Albumins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006996:Hypocalcemia / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000172:deficiency*
D000418:Albumins; D012709:Serum Albumin; D002118:Calcium