title: Vitamin D Deficiency and Critical Illness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in critically ill children and assess its association with severity of illness and other outcomes associated with critical illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty children aged 2 mo to 12 y, admitted with medical conditions to the pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital were enrolled in this prospective observational study. Vitamin D levels were obtained during the first hour of stay. Severity score was assessed using the Pediatric Risk of Mortality III (PRISM III) within first 12 h of admission.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Vitamin D deficiency {25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels < 20 ng/ml} was observed in 67 (83.8%) children. Vitamin D deficient children had significantly higher PRISM III score compared to vitamin D sufficient children [10 (IQR:5-15) vs. 6 (IQR:3-7); p 0.0099]. 25(OH)D levels had a significant negative correlation with PRISM III score (ρ -0.3747; p 0.0006).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vitamin D appears to be of utmost importance in critically ill children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Holy Family Hospital, New Delhi, 110025, India.
authors.forename: Shailender
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Holy Family Hospital, New Delhi, 110025, India. dr_aiims@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raj
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Holy Family Hospital, New Delhi, 110025, India.
authors.forename: Sumbul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Warsi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Holy Family Hospital, New Delhi, 110025, India.
authors.forename: Sona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chowdhary
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D
keywords: Critically ill children; PRISM III score; Vitamin D deficiency