Somia Iqtadar
King Edward Medical College, Pakistan
Title: Hypocalcemia as predictive marker of severity in dengue infection
Biography
Biography: Somia Iqtadar
Abstract
Background & Aim: Dengue is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by Dengue virus. Dengue can range from asymptomatic infection to a more severe form of dengue hemorrhagic fever with sometimes failure of circulatory system leading Dengue Shock Syndrome. Calcium, an important serum electrolyte, plays a pivotal role in cardiac and circulatory functions. Due to the paucity of local data, we conducted this study to see the association of hypocalcemia with the severity of dengue fever in our local population. The study aims to find the association of hypocalcemia in patients of Dengue fever with and/or without DHF. The study design was based on the cross-sectional study. Place and duration of the study was at medical wards of Mayo Hospital, Lahore, from 05-01-2018 to 05-07-2018.
Method: Patients with dengue fever were included in the study. Daily CBC was done and the presence or absence DHF was noted. Blood samples for serum calcium and serum albumin levels were drawn. Corrected calcium levels were calculated. Data was entered in SPSS 20. Presence of hypocalcemia was compared in patients with and without DHF.
Result: A total of 80 patients were included in the study out of which 45 (56.25%) were males and 35 (43.75%) were females. The mean age of patients was 33.59±14.33 years. 34 (42.5%) patients had DHF while 46 (57.5%) patients with dengue did not develop DHF. Out of 80, 23 (28.75%) patients had hypocalcemia. In patients with DHF, hypocalcemia was present in 18 (52.9%) cases while only 5 (10.9%) patients who did not have DHF developed hypocalcemia. This difference was significant (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Hypocalcemia is significantly higher in patients with DHF and can be used as an early predictor for complications and severity of the disease.