A Comparative Study of Measured and Calculated Ionized Calcium in Plasma

Abstract

Calcium as a nutrient is most commonly associated with the formation and metabolism of Bone. Over 99 percent of total Body calcium is found as calcium hydroxyapatite. Ionized calcium is measured by ion selective electrodes. It is also calculated from albumin and globulin values using an appropriate formula. In this study was we will compare measured and calculated ionized calcium in plasma. Material and method : The comparative descriptive study was conducted in Department of Biochemistry of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot. 50 patients of arterial blood were enrolled for study. Result: A total of 50 simultaneous arterial blood samples were obtained from 50 patients. Mean age of 45.52±17.45 years and range 18-84 years. Maximum numbers (40%) of patients were from the age group of 34-50 years followed by (24%) in the age group of 18 - 33 years A statistically significant correlation was found between measured and ionized calcium with p value 0.002 and r value 0.418. The difference between measured and Calculated ionized calcium was 0.24mmol/l with p value <0.001 (95% CI of 0.17 – 0.30) which was statistically highly significant. Conclusion; The values of measured and calculated ionized calcium are correlated but there is significant difference in their mean value. Moreover calculated calcium shows significant correlation with total protein and albumin so it is not a reliable indicator in conditions where protein levels are altered.