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Vitamin D Deficiency and Critical Illness

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Abstract

Objective

To determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in critically ill children and assess its association with severity of illness and other outcomes associated with critical illness.

Methods

Eighty children aged 2mo to 12y, admitted with medical conditions to the pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital were enrolled in this prospective observational study. Vitamin D levels were obtained during the first hour of stay. Severity score was assessed using the Pediatric Risk of Mortality III (PRISM III) within first 12 h of admission.

Results

Vitamin D deficiency {25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels < 20 ng/ml} was observed in 67 (83.8 %) children. Vitamin D deficient children had significantly higher PRISM III score compared to vitamin D sufficient children [10 (IQR:5–15) vs. 6 (IQR:3–7); p 0.0099]. 25(OH)D levels had a significant negative correlation with PRISM III score (ρ -0.3747; p 0.0006).

Conclusions

Vitamin D appears to be of utmost importance in critically ill children.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of Dr Asha Chug, Department of Pathology, for the laboratory support.

Contributions

SP: Literature review, protocol development, data collection and manuscript writing; DR: Protocol development, data analysis and manuscript writing; SW and SC: Patient management, manuscript writing, and overall guidance. SW will act as guarantor for this paper.

Conflict of Interest

None.

Source of Funding

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Holy Family Hospital, New Delhi, 110025, India

    Shailender Prasad, Dinesh Raj, Sumbul Warsi & Sona Chowdhary

Authors
  1. Shailender Prasad
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  2. Dinesh Raj
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  3. Sumbul Warsi
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  4. Sona Chowdhary
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Correspondence to Dinesh Raj.

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Prasad, S., Raj, D., Warsi, S. et al. Vitamin D Deficiency and Critical Illness. Indian J Pediatr 82, 991–995 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-015-1778-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-015-1778-3

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