EFFECT ON SERUM CALCIUM OF lα-HYDROXY-VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENTATION IN INFANTS OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT, INFANTS WITH PERINATAL ASPHYXIA, AND INFANTS OF DIABETIC MOTHERS

Abstract. Petersen, S., Christensen, N. Chr. and Fogh-Andersen, N. (Department of Neonatology and Department of Clinical Chemistry, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark). Effect on serum calcium of lα-hydroxy-vitamin D₃ supplementation in infants of low birth weight, infants with perinatal asphyxia, and infants of diabetic mothers. Acta Paediatr Scand, 70: 897, 1981.-Thirty infants of low birth weight, 34 infants with perinatal asphyxia, and 16 infants of diabetic mothers were investigated for early neonatal hypocalcaemia. The infants were randomized into a group prophylactically given lα-hydroxy-vitamin D₃, 0.05 or 0.10 μ/kg i.v. on the first 3 days of life, and an untreated control group. In infants of low birth weight and infants of diabetic mothers there were no differences in serum ion-Ca concentrations on days 2, 3, 5, and 7 between the treated and untreated groups. In infants with perinatal asphyxia, however, serum ion-Ca concentrations on days 5 and 7 were significantly higher in the treated than in the untreated group, while on days 2 and 3 the differences were not statistically significant. The hypocalcaemia in asphyctic infants was not correlated to bicarbonate treatment, but infarits with severe signs of asphyxia had lower serum ion-Ca concentrations than infants with only mild or no signs. Hypocalcaemia in asphyctic infants might be explained by a decreased concentration of 1 α, 25-dihydroxy-vitamin D₃ following reduced lα-hydroxylation in the kidney as a consequence of anoxia during perinatal asphyxia.