Variation and significance of serum calcium and magnesium in hepatocirrhosis patients

Objective To observe the variation of serum calcium and magnesium in hepatocir- rhosis patients and to study the clinical significance.Methods 49 hepatocirrhosis patients in compensa- tion period,60 patients in decompensation period and 80 normal subjects were selected.The levels of serum calcium and magnesium were measured by photometry.Results The levels of serum calcium (2.19±0.18)mmol/L in hepatocirrhosis patients with compensation and those(2.00-0.26)mmol/L in patients with decompensation were lower obviously than those(2.37-0.10)mmol/L in normal con- trols,and the difference was significant(t=7.203,11.594,P0.001).Serum calcium in hepatocir- rhosis patients with decompensation was lower than that in patients with compensation(t=4.306,P 0.01).The levels of magnesium(0.82-0.13)mmol/L in patients with decompensation were lower ob- viously than those(0.87±0.06)mmol/L of normal controls and the difference was significant(t= 3.056,P0.01).The incidence of hypocalcemia(68.3%)in decompensation group was higher obvi- ously than that(44.9%)in compensation group and the difference was significant(X~2=6.073,P 0.05),but the difference among different ages was not significant(X~2=0.234,P0.05).Positive correlation was shown between the decreasing of serum calcium and that of serum albumin in hepato- cirrhosis patients(r=0.5784,P0.01).No correlation was shown between the level of serum mag- nesium and that of serum albumin(r=0.036,P0.05).Conclusion Hypocalcemia is found obvious- ly in hepatocirrhosis patients and positive correlation is shown between the level of serum calcium and the extent of being injured of liver function.The level of serum calcium is a useful item for diagnosing the extent of being injured of liver function in hepatocirrhosis patients.