Abstract

 BACKGROUND:
Hypocalcaemia is a commonly encountered problem in critically ill patients, and it has been shown
to correlate with increased ICU stay and mortality.
OBJECTIVE:
This study is to estimate serum ionized calcium level and to evaluate whether calcium adjusted for
albumin accurately predicts ionized calcium concentrations.
PATIENT AND METHOD:
Cross sectional study conducted to 47 randomly selected adult patients admitted in Baghdad
teaching hospital/ ICU from June 2014-october 2014. Ionized Ca level was determined using ionspecific electrode methodology, on heparinised plasma. The total Ca concentration was adjusted
for serum Albumin.
RESULTS:
From total 47 patients, 40 patients were showed low serum calcium level (mean 6.79 mg/dl), and
82 were showed low corrected s.calcium (mean 7.77 mg/dl).
Low serum albumin was independently associated with hypocalcaemia on admission. 30 patients
(63.83%) reported low total S. alb. mean s. albumin where 2.8mmol.