Vitamin D Toxicity: A 16-Year Retrospective Study at an Academic Medical Center. Lab Med 2018 Mar 21;49(2):123-129
Date
01/19/2018Pubmed ID
29346630DOI
10.1093/labmed/lmx077Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85044668661 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 32 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND: Interest in vitamin D has increased during the past 2 decades, with a corresponding increase in laboratory testing of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]. The vast majority of specimens tested display normal or deficient levels of 25(OH)D; concentrations rarely fall in the potentially toxic range.
METHODS: We performed a retrospective investigation of elevated 25(OH)D levels during a 16-year period at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC), a 734-bed tertiary-/quaternary-care academic medical center in the midwestern United States. Detailed medical-record review was performed for patients with serum/plasma 25(OH)D concentrations higher than 120 ng per mL.
RESULTS: A total of 127,932 serum/plasma 25(OH)D measurements were performed on 73,779 unique patients. Of these patients, 780 (1.05%) had results that exceeded 80 ng per mL and 89 patients (0.12%) had results that exceeded 120 ng per mL. Only 4 patients showed symptoms of vitamin D toxicity. Three of these cases involved inadvertent misdosing of liquid formulations.
CONCLUSIONS: Symptomatic vitamin D toxicity is uncommon, and elevated levels of 25(OH)D do not strongly correlate with clinical symptoms or total serum/plasma calcium levels. Our study highlights the potential risks of the liquid formulation of vitamin D.
Author List
Lee JP, Tansey M, Jetton JG, Krasowski MDAuthor
Jennifer G. Jetton MD Chief, Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Calcium
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Iowa
Linear Models
Male
Middle Aged
Retrospective Studies
Vitamin D
Young Adult
