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Vitamin D deficiency at pediatric intensive care admission

Corsino Rey1, David Sánchez-Arango2, Jesús López-Herce3

  • 1Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain.

Jornal De Pediatria
|November 5, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients show a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency upon admission. However, low vitamin D levels were not linked to increased mortality risk scores in these critically ill children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
  • Endocrinology
  • Nutritional Science

Background:

  • Vitamin D deficiency is a growing concern in various populations.
  • Assessing vitamin D status in critically ill children is crucial for understanding potential health impacts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)vitD) deficiency in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients at admission.
  • To investigate the association between 25(OH)vitD deficiency and predicted mortality risk scores in this cohort.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective observational study enrolled 156 PICU patients and 25(OH)vitD levels were measured within 12 hours of admission.
  • Vitamin D levels were compared to 289 healthy children, and deficiency was defined as < 20 ng/mL.
  • Patients were stratified based on mortality risk scores (PRISM III/PIM 2) to compare 25(OH)vitD levels between high-risk and other groups.

Main Results:

  • PICU patients had significantly lower median 25(OH)vitD levels (26.0 ng/mL) compared to healthy children (30.5 ng/mL) (p=0.007).
  • The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (< 20 ng/mL) was higher in PICU patients (29.5%) than in healthy children (15.6%) (p=0.01).
  • No significant difference in 25(OH)vitD levels was observed between PICU patients with high mortality risk scores and those with lower scores (p=0.800).

Conclusions:

  • Hypovitaminosis D (vitamin D deficiency) is common upon admission to the pediatric intensive care unit.
  • Vitamin D deficiency in PICU patients was not associated with higher predicted mortality risk scores.
Abstract

Keywords:
25 hydroxivitamin D25‐hidroxivitamina DCrianças gravemente doentesCritical careCritically‐ill childrenIndicadores prognósticosMortality riskPrognostic markersRisco de mortalidadeTerapia intensiva

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