Related Experiment Videos
[Hypocalcemia associated with heart failure in infants]
Harefuah
|December 16, 1990
Insights
Hypocalcemia, a calcium deficiency, can mimic heart failure symptoms in infants. Correcting calcium levels resolved heart failure signs in two infants, highlighting the importance of checking calcium in pediatric heart failure cases.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Cardiology
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Infantile heart failure presents with significant clinical and radiographic signs.
- Hypocalcemia is a potential, yet often overlooked, cause of cardiac dysfunction in neonates and infants.
Abstract:
A 2.5-month-old girl and a 34-day-old boy with clinical and X-ray signs of heart failure, and hypocalcemia as well, are presented. Cardiologic investigation revealed no organic causes and in both cases the signs of heart failure resolved only when calcium levels were restored to normal.