Hypomagnesemia in relation to digoxin intoxication in children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Cardiology
• Clinical Chemistry
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Heart failure in children can stem from various causes.
• Digoxin toxicity is a known complication in pediatric heart failure management.
• Serum magnesium levels play a crucial role in cardiac function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate serum magnesium levels in children with heart failure.
• To determine the prevalence of magnesium deficiency in this population.
• To explore the relationship between magnesium levels, digoxin toxicity, and cardiac arrhythmias.

Main Methods:

• Serum magnesium levels were measured in 19 children with heart failure.
• Patients were categorized into toxic and nontoxic groups based on digoxin levels.
• Comparison was made with healthy control subjects.

Main Results:

• Children with heart failure had significantly lower mean serum magnesium than controls (P < 0.01).
• Magnesium levels were even lower in toxic patients (P < 0.001) and hypomagnesemic patients (P < 0.001).
• Toxic patients had significantly higher serum digoxin levels (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Magnesium deficiency is prevalent in children with heart failure, particularly those with digoxin toxicity.
• Low serum magnesium may be linked to cardiac arrhythmias in this cohort.
• Magnesium sulfate administration was effective in managing cardiac arrhythmias in three cases.