Assessment of Vitamin D Deficiency in Critically Ill Children

Abstract

This cross-sectional - case control study was conducted on 94 children with age ranging from 2 months-12 years .Sixty of them were admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of Dar- El Salam Hospital , Cairo, during period between April, 2017 to February, 2018.And thirty-four healthy children were selected from the Outpatient Clinic of Ain-Shams University, children's Hospital due to minor complaints . The PICU at Dar El Salam Hospital is a five bedded unit and caters to children with medical/surgical problems, and trauma. However, PICU patients were excluded if they had the following issues: chronic renal disease, gastrointestinal malabsorption conditions, post-operative surgery, or trauma as related to possible abuse. The present study was designed to assess vitamin D status in children admitted to Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and studied the relationship between vitamin D status at PICU patient and healthy pediatric children (control) and both patient morbidity and mortality.