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Acute and Severe Hypercalcemia in a Near-Drowning Victim

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Sanin Rosai Hospital, Yonago, Japan; Division of Medicine and Clinical Science, Tottori Univer- sity School of Medicine, Yonago, Japan.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Sanin Rosai Hospital, Yonago, Japan
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Sanin Rosai Hospital, Yonago, Japan;
⁴ Division of Medicine and Clinical Science, Tottori Univer- sity School of Medicine, Yonago, Japan.
⁵ Division of Medicine and Clinical Science, Tottori University School of Medicine, Yonago, Japan
⁶ Division of Medicine and Clinical Science, Tottori Univer- sity School of Medicine, Yonago, Japan.
⁷ Division of Medicine and Clinical Science, Tottori University School of Medicine, Yonago, Japan.

International Journal of Clinical Medicine·Volume 04 (2013)·Pages 417–420·Published 23 October 2013·DOI10.4236/ijcm.2013.410075

Abstract

An 80-year-old male was admitted to our hospital because of near-drowning in a hot spring. Besides hypoxia, serum calcium was extremely high at 15.5 mg/dL on admission. After the treatment with normal saline infusion, furosemide and calcitonin, the hypercalcemia was transient and didn’t recur during the course. The hot spring water contained much calcium, so his hypercalcemia was considered to be a result of calcium absorption mainly through the alveoli. In this case, we revealed that serum calcium rose within a short time after drowning, suggesting the necessity to measure the calcium concentration of the drowning fluid in a near-drowning victim.

KeywordsHypercalcemiaDrowningHot Spring

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Acute and Severe Hypercalcemia in a Near-Drowning Victim

Abstract

References (13)