title: Serum calcium measurement: Total versus free (ionized) calcium.
abstract: Measurement of serum free (ionized) calcium (Ca(++)) reflects true calcium status of the body in health and disease. Present study evaluates efficacy of Ca(++) over total calcium (CaT) in serum for calcium status. 52 subjects were enrolled for study. Anaerobic fasting blood sample for Ca(++) measurement and autoclaved plain bulb for estimation of CaT, Total protein (TP) and Albumin was used. CaT, Corrected CaT, Ca(++), Calculated Ca(++) were measured and correlated. Corrected CaT and calculated Ca(++) were derived from the measured parameters. Study group showed significant difference between CaT and corrected CaT (p<0.006), Ca(++) and calculated Ca(++) (p<0.001). Negligible correlation was observed between Ca(++) and serum protein. Positive correlation was observed between CaT and calculated Ca(++), TP and albumin. Findings indicate that Ca(++) levels are independent of serum protein status. With scrupulous sampling, Ca(++) may be a better parameter than presently used CaT for assessing calcium status in serum.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Biochemistry, Pad. Dr. D. Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, C/O Dept. of Biochemistry, D. Y Patil Medical College, Pimpri, 411018 Pune.
authors.forename: Laxmayya
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sava
authors.forename: Sandhya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pillai
authors.forename: Umesh
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: More
authors.forename: Alka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sontakke
keywords: Albumin; Anaerobic Sampling; Calculated Total Calcium; Corrected Free Calcium; Free Calcium; Total calcium