Letter to the Editor
Hypercalcemia and acute renal failure associated with calcium carbonate consumption in a patient with hypoparathyroidism

Milk-alkali syndrome was first recognized in the 1920s during administration of the popular “Sippy” regimen for peptic ulcer disease, consisting of large amounts of milk and sodium bicarbonate. Toxic reactions associated with alkalosis and renal insufficiency were noted shortly thereafter, but the plasma calcium concentration was not measured [1]. In 1936, a report that associated hypercalcemia with the alkalosis and renal failure in patients treated with the “Sippy” regimen was published [2]. This syndrome is rarely seen today in this group of patients because of the replacement of the older peptic ulcer treatment with new agents, but it is now increasingly prevalent in patients (mostly middle-aged women) who use drugs containing calcium carbonate for the prevention or the treatment of osteoporosis [3]. So, it was recommended that the term ‘milk-alkali syndrome’ should be replaced by the term ‘calcium-alkali syndrome’, since the older term no longer reflects the etiologic origin [4].
A 60-year-old woman visited our hospital with a 1-week history of nausea, vomiting, anorexia and general weakness. Her past medical history included a total thyroidectomy 20 years ago for multinodular goiter, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia and chronic renal failure (creatinine 115 µmol/l, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 52 ml/min). She was taking levothyroxine (0.1 mg/day) for iatrogenic hypothyroidism, calcium carbonate (1000 mg/day) and alfacalcidol (1 µg/day) for iatrogenic hypoparathyroidism [5]. Her other medications included vildagliptin (100 mg/day), metformin (2000 mg/day), gliclazide (30 mg/day), quinapril (20 mg/day), atorvastatin (20 mg/day), folic acid (5 mg/day) and hydroxocobalamin (1 mg/month i.m.). On examination she was dehydrated with a pulse of 96 beats/min and blood pressure of 130/75 mm Hg. Laboratory data on admission were as follows (Table I): glucose 4.8 mmol/l (reference range (RR): 3.9 to 6.9 mmol/l), creatinine 301 µmol/l (RR: 53–106 µmol/l), urea 22.31 mmol/l (RR: 1.83–8.99 mmol/l), serum calcium 3.67 mmol/l (RR: 2.05–2.64 mmol/l), urinary calcium 9.16 mmol/l, serum phosphate 0.77 mmol/l (RR: 0.81–1.61 mmol/l), chloride 94 mmol/l (RR: 98–110 mmol/l), magnesium 0.63 mmol/l (RR: 0.65–1.05 mmol/l), potassium 5.8 mmol/l (RR: 3.5–5.3 mmol/l), sodium 137 mmol/l (RR: 135–145 mmol/l), albumin 46 g/l (RR: 34–50 g/l), alkaline phosphatase 43 IU/l, arterial blood pH 7.46, serum...


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