Hypomagnesemia and clinical implications in children and neonates

Indian J Med Sci. 1998 Dec;52(12):541-7.

Abstract

The prevalence of hypomagnesemia was studied in neonates and children. The specimens were selected randomly from those submitted to the clinical chemical laboratory for blood test. A serum magnesium concentration less than 0.74 mmol/L was considered hypomagnesemic. A total serum magnesium determinations of 910 patients showed that 188 (21.7% prevalence rate) patients contained low serum magnesium levels. Frequently encountered hypomagnesemia was found among neonates with clinical conditions as diarrhea 41 (21.8%), premature births 24 (12.8%), neonatal hepatitis 20 (10.6%) and respiratory distress syndrome 5 (2.7%). In children the clinical conditions most frequently encountered with low serum magnesium were seizure 30 (16%), renal disease 26 (13.8%), metabolic acidosis 18 (9.6%), ideopathic apnea 14 (7.4%) and tachycardia 10 (5.3%). The statistical analysis of low serum magnesium values of patients in various clinical groups showed a significant difference (p < 0.0001) upon using homogeneity of variances but this was insignificant with the application of Kruskal-Wallis 1-Way ANOVA since Chi-square = 12.5748.

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Comorbidity
  • Diarrhea / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Hepatitis / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infant, Newborn, Diseases / epidemiology
  • Infant, Premature, Diseases / epidemiology
  • Kidney Diseases / epidemiology
  • Magnesium / blood
  • Magnesium Deficiency / epidemiology*
  • Male
  • Prevalence
  • Random Allocation
  • Saudi Arabia / epidemiology
  • Seizures / epidemiology

Substances

  • Magnesium