title: Acute phosphate intoxication in seven infants under parenteral nutrition.
abstract: After major surgery, seven infants aged 4 to 29 weeks, under parenteral nutrition, received monosodium phosphate (4.2 to 14.3 mEq/kg body weight) instead of prescribed calcium gluconate. The wrong solution was perfused during 16 hours. At the 15th hour, blood samples showed hyperphosphatemia in all (8.0 to 14.4 mg/100 mL) and hypocalcemia in four infants (6.1 to 8.0 mg/100 mL), but all were asymptomatic. Under a perfusion of glucose in water, calcemia and phosphatemia returned to normal within 24 hours. In a review of the pediatric literature, we found 11 subjects with symptomatic acute phosphate intoxication, who also presented with hypocalcemia and hyperphosphatemia. The differences were that they received high bolus doses of phosphate orally or rectally and showed symptomatic features. Normalization of the calcemia occurred only when hyperphosphatemia was corrected throughout intravenous hydration.
authors.affiliation: Free University of Brussels, Intensive Care Unit for Children, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants, Reine Fabiola, Belgium.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Biarent
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brumagne
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steppe
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bouton
mesh_terms: D002125:Calcium Gluconate / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008508:Medication Errors; D010288:Parenteral Nutrition; D010710:Phosphates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000506:poisoning*
chemical_list: D010710:Phosphates; C018279:sodium phosphate; D002125:Calcium Gluconate