Abstract 21: Vitamin D deficiency as an alarming cause of hypocalcemia in infancy in Kashmir Valley

Introduction: Hypocalcemia is one of the common metabolic disorders in infants. This study is a part of study which was done to find the etiological, clinical and laboratory profile of hypocalcemia in infants. Settings and Design: This was a cross sectional study conducted in infants aged between 3 days to 12 months who on evaluation were found to have hypocalcaemia on routine laboratory investigation. Material and Methods: The study infants were subjected to history, physical examination and lab investigations including Vitamin D, Phosphorus and iPTH. Results: Total number of cases of hypocalcemia due to vitamin D deficiency were 28 with male babies 16 (57%) and female babies 12 (43%), neonates 13 (46%) and post neonatal infants 15 (54%). Mean age was 84.43 days ±87.366. 25 (89%) cases presented with generalized tonic clonic seizures while 3 (11%) presented with lethargy and irritability. 22 (78%) patients had 25 hydroxy vitamin D levels below the detection limit of 10.5 nmol/l while remaining 6 (12%) patients had mean 25 hydroxy vitamin-D 14.5 ± 1.54 nmol/l, exclusively breast fed were 22 (78.6%), only formula fed 1 (3.6%) and both breast and formula fed 5 (17.9%), most cases 13 (46%) reported in winter, while 5 (18%) in spring, 4 (14%) in summer and 6 (21%) in autumn. Conclusion: Evaluation of vitamin D status should be included in the work up of hypocalcemia especially in infancy.