Transient Loss of Consciousness Associated With Severe Hypocalcemia and QT Prolongation Due to Primary Hypoparathyroidism in an Adolescent Girl

Masafumi Miyao; Yoshihiro Aoki; Naoto Mizushiro; Reiko Kitazawa; Chizuko Nakamura

doi:10.7759/cureus.34352

Transient Loss of Consciousness Associated With Severe Hypocalcemia and QT Prolongation Due to Primary Hypoparathyroidism in an Adolescent Girl

Cureus. 2023 Jan 29;15(1):e34352. doi: 10.7759/cureus.34352. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Authors

Masafumi Miyao¹, Yoshihiro Aoki^{2

3}, Naoto Mizushiro¹, Reiko Kitazawa¹, Chizuko Nakamura⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Aizawa Hospital, Matsumoto, JPN.
² Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Aizawa Hospital, Matsumoto, JPN.
³ Coordination Office for Emergency Medicine and International Response, Acute and Critical Care Center, Nagasaki University Hospital, Nagasaki, JPN.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, JPN.

Abstract

As hypocalcemia is uncommon, serum calcium levels are not routinely measured in many emergency medicine clinics. We report a case of an adolescent girl with a transient loss of consciousness due to hypocalcemia. A 13-year-old healthy girl had a syncopal episode complicated with numbness in the extremities. On admission, she was fully conscious, but hypocalcemia and QT prolongation were noted. After careful consideration of the possible etiologies, the patient was diagnosed with acquired QT prolongation due to primary hypoparathyroidism. The patient's serum calcium levels were controlled by activated vitamin D and calcium supplementation. Primary hypoparathyroidism-associated hypocalcemia can cause QT prolongation and neurological complications, even in previously healthy adolescents.

Keywords: adolescent; calcium; electrocardiography; emergency medicine; hypocalcemia; hypoparathyroidism; pediatrics; qt prolongation; seizure; syncope.

Publication types

Case Reports