Abstract
Changes in ionized calcium (iCa) concentration seem to occur in newborns when the calcium supply from the mother is disconnected at birth, and a related hypocalcemia is produced. Thus, measurement of iCa is of particular importance in newborns. The aim of this study was to compare two methods of iCa measurement. We collected 50 samples from newborns in which we obtained values of iCa using both the direct and the indirect measurement. There is a significant correlation between iCa values obtained from Omni C and those obtained from the calculated method.
Highlights
Calcium is an essential mineral in the human body, involved in several important metabolic processes, such as blood clotting, muscle excitability and contraction, transmission of nerve impulses, enzyme activation, second messenger formation and hormone secretion, with the main feature of mineralization of bone and teeth[9].Calcium is present in the plasma in three forms: the free ionized calcium constitutes about 50% of the total; 35% to 40% are bound to proteins, mainly to albumin; and 10% to 15% are complexed with low-molecular-weight ligands such as bicarbonate, phosphate, lactate, citrate, and others[8].Though poorly understood, the regulation of calcium homeostasis in the newborn has been of considerable interest
During the early days of life, the ionized calcium (iCa) level progressively decreases in normal infants, so that by the second or third day of life, the level is lower than that found in older infants and children
This study is important because profound changes in iCa concentration seem to occur in newborns when the calcium supply from the mother is removed at birth, and a related hypocalcemia is produced
Summary
Calcium is an essential mineral in the human body, involved in several important metabolic processes, such as blood clotting, muscle excitability and contraction, transmission of nerve impulses, enzyme activation, second messenger formation and hormone secretion, with the main feature of mineralization of bone and teeth[9].Calcium is present in the plasma in three forms: the free ionized calcium (iCa) constitutes about 50% of the total; 35% to 40% are bound to proteins, mainly to albumin; and 10% to 15% are complexed with low-molecular-weight ligands such as bicarbonate, phosphate, lactate, citrate, and others[8].Though poorly understood, the regulation of calcium homeostasis in the newborn has been of considerable interest. Calcium is an essential mineral in the human body, involved in several important metabolic processes, such as blood clotting, muscle excitability and contraction, transmission of nerve impulses, enzyme activation, second messenger formation and hormone secretion, with the main feature of mineralization of bone and teeth[9]. The iCa level in cord blood exceeds that in maternal blood. Recent findings show that parathyroid hormone-related peptide plays an important role in transferring calcium across the placenta into the fetal circulation. In most normal full-term infants the iCa level returns to normal by 10 days of life. In some infants the plasma iCa falls to pathologically low levels, and tetany or convulsions may occur[6]
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