The many etiologies of neonatal hypocalcemic seizures.
Seizures during the neonatal period have a broad differential diagnosis. Unlike in developing countries where hypovitaminosis D and hypocalcemia constitutes a major cause of infantile seizures, the number of neonatal seizures attributed to hypocalcemia in developed countries has decreased dramatically due to the improvement of infant formulas and vitamin D supplementation. In these countries, most infants that present with hypocalcemic seizures have underlying endocrinological etiologies rather than dietary insufficiencies. Here, we describe 3 cases of neonatal seizures due to hypocalcemia. Although the symptoms and calcium concentrations at presentation were similar in all 3 cases, the course of the disease and the final diagnosis for each were distinct. The cases are presented along with a brief review of the pathophysiology, differential diagnosis, and treatment of neonatal hypocalcemia.
From the *Pediatric Endocrine and Diabetes Unit, Safra Children's Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan; †Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv; and ‡Department of Pediatric Intensive Care, Safra Children's Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Yael
Y
Levy-Shraga
Keren
K
Dallalzadeh
Keren
K
Stern
Gideon
G
Paret
Orit
O
Pinhas-Hamiel
D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood*; D002125:Calcium Gluconate / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006996:Hypocalcemia / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D012640:Seizures / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*
D002125:Calcium Gluconate; D002118:Calcium