Cardiac failure secondary to hypocalcemia

Abstract

Hypocalcemic cardiomyopathy due to hypoparathyroidism is a very atypical and rare circumstance, which is usually intractable to conventional therapy for cardiac failure, but responds satisfactorily to restoration of normocalcemia. We describe a young woman who developed clinical signs of hypocalcemia due to hypoparathyroidism, reduced left ventricular ejection fraction and polymorphic ventricular tachycardia as consequences of hypocalcemia. This case underscores the importance of biochemical abnormalities like hypocalcemia as a rare cause of secondary cardiomyopathy and emphasizes on the need for effective and immediate treatment of hypocalcemia and its related causes.

Association of Hypocalcemia with In-Hospital Outcomes in Patients with Heart Failure

“…It reduces myocardial contractility, although the occurrence of congestive heart failure attributed to hypocalcemia is infrequent. 13,14 Furthermore in a study, it was found that in patients with heart failure, hypocalcemia was present in 50.4% of patients, 1 whereas in another study, Miura et al revealed that hypocalcemia was only present in 16.7%, 3 patients with heart failure and CKD was associated with cardiac arrest in 31.3% patients (p=0.002) and with in-hospital mortality in 21.9% patients (p<0.001).…”

“…12 However, it is worth noting that while hypocalcemia can affect myocardial contractility, its role in causing congestive heart failure is infrequent. 13,14 Moreover, studies have reported varying prevalence rates of hypocalcemia among patients with heart failure. For instance, one study found hypocalcemia in 50.4% of heart failure patients, 1 whereas Miura et al 3 reported a lower prevalence of 16.7%.…”