Hypocalcemia in the Newborn

Hypocalcemia is a frequently observed clinical and laboratory abnormality in neonates. Ionic calcium is crucial for many biochemical processes including blood coagulation, neuromuscular excitability, cell membrane integrity, and many of the cellular enzymatic activities. Healthy term infants undergo a physiological nadir in serum calcium levels by 24-48 h of age. This nadir may drop to hypocalcemic levels in high-risk neonates including infants of diabetic mothers, preterm infants and infants with perinatal asphyxia. The early onset hypocalcemia which presents within 72 h requires treatment with calcium supplementation for at least 72 h. In contrast, late onset hypocalcemia usually presents after 7 days and requires longer term therapy.     

Hypocalcemia in the Newborn

Healthy term babies undergo a physiological nadir in serum calcium levels by 24-48 hours of age. The nadir may be related to the delayed response of parathyroid and calcitonin hormones in a newborn. This nadir may drop to hypocalcemic levels in high-risk neonates including infants of diabetic mothers, preterm infants and infants with perinatal asphyxia. The early onset hypocalcemia which presents within 72 hours, requires treatment with calcium supplementation for at least 72 hours. In contrast, late onset hypocalcemia usually presents after 7 days and requires long term therapy. Ionized calcium is crucial for many biochemical processes and total serum calcium is a poor substitute for the diagnosis of hypocalcemia.     

Hypocalcemia in the Newborn

Healthy term babies undergo a physiological nadir in serum calcium levels by 24–48 hours of age. This nadir may be related to the delayed response of parathyroid and calcitonin hormones in a newborn. This nadir may drop to hypocalcemic levels in high-risk neonates including infants of diabetic mothers, preterm infants and infants with perinatal asphyxia. This early onset hypocalcemia which presents within 72 hours, requires treatment with calcium supplementation for at least 72 hours. In contrast late onset hypocalcemia usually presents after 7 days and requires long term therapy. Ionized calcium is crucial for many biochemical processes and total serum calcium is a poor substitute for the diagnosis of hypocalcemia.     

Psychopathology in Infancy

The first three years of life present unique challenges to the study of psychopathology. We highlight four of the issues in a selective review of the developmental psychopathology of early childhood, including lack of specificity of risk and outcome variables, measurement difficulties, rapid developmental changes and the centrality of the relationship context in early childhood. We also highlight issues relevant to conceptualizations of disorders of infancy, emphasizing especially the need for efforts to validate clinical disorders. We consider two major domains of infant development that we believe are especially relevant to a discussion of psychopathology, namely, regulation of emotion and infant caregiver attachment Discussions of these two domains of infant development and their psycho-pathological extremes allow us to consider conceptualizations of psychopathology from the dual perspectives of developmental psychopathology and clinical disorders. We conclude by suggesting a number of strategies to build upon previous research.     

Hypocalcemia complicating acute leukemia

Eighteen of 54 adults with acute leukemia developed severe hypocalcemia during a 20 month period. Hypocalcemia (mean lowest serum calcium 6.3 mg/100 ml with a range of 4.1 to 7.0 mg/100 ml) lasted 2-29 days and was symptomatic in all but one patient. Six patients were hypocalcemic at the time of death, 5 died within 1 week of hypocalcemia, and 2 had antibiotic-induced respiratory arrest. All patients had severe infections; 17 of 18 were with gram-negative organisms. No patient had severe azotemia, diarrhea, alkalosis, or hypoalbuminemia. Hypophosphatemia was seen in 14 patients, suggesting no hypoparathyroidism. The serum calcium of patients with acute leukemia should be measured frequently, especially when they have infection. Hypocalcemia is a sign of poor prognosis and should signal the need for careful observation of ventilation, caution in the use of aminoglycoside antibiotics, and vigorous attempts at calcium administration.     

Postenteritis Enteropathy in Infancy

ABSTRACT. Ten patients, who developed postenteritis enteropathy with chronic diarrhoea, failure to thrive and small intestinal mucosal damage after an episode of acute gastroenteritis, were studied prospectively. All patients experienced severe growth retardation. Maximum deviation of height and weight from mean values of age-correlated normal children were −1.7 and −3.1 SD (median values), respectively, as compared to −0.1 and 0 SD before onset of the illness. One child died after 14 months of illness. The long-term outcome was satisfactory for the 9 surviving children. For these children, treatment with an elemental diet (in some cases supplemented initially with parenteral nutrition) and later a lactose-free diet lead to resolution of diarrhoea within periods ranging from 0.5 to 10 months. The phase of catch-up growth lasted from 4 to 36 months, resulting in final height and weight deviating −0.6 and −0.8 SD (median values), respectively, from normal mean values. Attempt to predict duration of diarrhoea or length of catch-up growth phase by means of age, weight before illness, characteristics of small intestinal biopsy or maximum deviation of height or weight were unsuccessful. The incidence of postenteritis enteropathy for children of North European ethnic origin was estimated to be 7.6/1000000 children below 7 years of age/year, corresponding to 1.2/1000 children hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis.