Hypocalcemia and hypercalcitoninemia in critically ill children.

To study Ca metabolism in critically ill children, we measured ionized Ca (Ca2+), parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin, 25 hydroxycholecalciferol (25[OH] D3), 1-25 dihydroxycholecalciferol (1-25[OH]2D3, and gastrin levels in critically ill children and in healthy controls. Patients were considered hypocalcemic if Ca2+ was less than 1.1 mmol/L.

Steroid metabolic disturbances in Prader-Willi syndrome.

We have studied steroid sulfate conjugates in serum samples from 17 children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) by extraction, enzymatic hydrolysis and chromatography of the hydrolysed, free steroids. The chromatograms in patients with PWS can be divided into 2 classes. Ten (4 with the deletion on chromosome 15 and 6 without) of 17 had a normal pattern with dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) as the only steroid detected.