Prevalence of hypomagnesemia in neonatal seizures in a tertiary care hospital in South India

Introduction: Metabolic causes of neonatal seizures with good prognosis are hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, hypomagnesemia. Some of hypocalcmic seizures are accompanied by hypomagnesemia, but magnesium levels are rarely investigated in resource restricted hospitals. Materials and Methods: A group of 150 neonates with seizures were studied. Analysis of serum Calcium, Magnesium and Sodium were done on the samples using conventional methods. Prevalence of hypomagnesemia, hypocalcemia and their association was estimated. Results: Metabolic abnormalities were present in 89 (59.3%) out of 150 cases. Of these, hypoglycemia and hypocalcemia were the most common with 39 (43.8%) and 28 (35.4%) cases respectively. The prevalence of hypomagnesemia was 5.3%. 87% of hypomagnesemia cases were associated with hypocalcemia implying the interrelation in pathophysiology. Among neonates with hypocalcemia, 20% had hypomagnesemia. Hence, there is a need to estimate magnesium levels in neonatal seizures because treatment is definitive with magnesium salts. Conclusion: Hypomagnesemia was a significant cause of neonatal seizures. Most of the neonates with hypomagnesemia had an associated hypocalcemia. It is necessary to estimate levels of magnesium in addition to calcium in all neonates with seizures.