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Hypophosphataemia at a large academic hospital in South Africa
M Hoffmann1, A E Zemlin, W P Meyer
1Department of Chemical Pathology, NHLS, Tygerberg Hospital, University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa. mariza@sun.ac.za
Aim:
The aim of this study was to determine the most common causes of hypophosphataemia (
Methods:
The study was conducted at Tygerberg Hospital, a tertiary care centre in the Western Cape, South Africa. All patients identified with a phosphate level
Results:
Of all the requests received for serum phosphate determination by the laboratory, 2% (861 out of 45 394 requests) were
Conclusion:
Severe hypophosphataemia is associated with a very high mortality (30%, n = 189). Patients with a high risk of developing hypophosphataemia include those in an intensive care unit (ICU), patients suffering from neoplastic diseases, possible refeeding syndrome and septic patients. Regular phosphate determination is recommended in these patients to facilitate early diagnosis of hypophosphataemia.
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