What is a hypomagnesemia definition?
Hypomagnesemia is an electrolyte disturbance caused when there is a low level of serum magnesium (less than 1.46 mg/dL) in the blood. Hypomagnesemia can be attributed to chronic disease, alcohol use disorder, gastrointestinal losses, renal losses, and other conditions.
Is hypomagnesemia an emergency?
Hypomagnesemia is common in hospitalized patients (7–11%) and even more frequent in patients with other coexisting electrolyte abnormalities [1–3] and in critically ill patients [4, 5]. Hypomagnesemia can potentially cause fatal complications including ventricular arrhythmia, coronary artery spasm, and sudden death.
What can hypomagnesemia cause?
If hypomagnesemia and its underlying cause remain untreated, severely low magnesium levels can develop. Severe hypomagnesemia can have life-threatening complications such as: seizures. cardiac arrhythmias (abnormal heart patterns)
What is the pathophysiology of hypomagnesemia?
Hypomagnesemia—serum levels of magnesium levels below the usual reference range of 1.5 to 2.5 mg/dL—can result from decreased intake, redistribution of magnesium from the extracellular to the intracellular space, or increased renal or gastrointestinal loss. It can be acquired or hereditary.
What causes a person to have hypomagnesemia?
(hī’pō-mag’nĕ-sē’mē-ă) Deficiency of magnesium in blood; may be caused by chronic alcoholism, dehydration, diabetic acidosis, and chronic diarrhea, malabsorption syndrome, postoperative complication of bowel surgery, prolonged nasogastric suction, prolonged diuretic therapy, or starvation.
How to treat myocardial irritability caused by hypomagnesemia?
If myocardial irritability is being driven by hypomagnesemia, repletion of magnesium may help substantially. About half of patients with hypokalemia are also hypomagnesemic (29610664).
Do you need a magnesium infusion for hypomagnesemia?
Most of the magnesium administered isn’t absorbed by the cells, so severe hypomagnesemia often requires a magnesium infusion or repeated doses. Make sure to check magnesium levels on patients with atrial fibrillation (especially difficult-to-treat atrial fibrillation).
How is hypomagnesemia related to long-term chronic alcoholism?
Etiology. Hypomagnesemia is related to decreased intake in patients with malnutrition or long-term chronic alcoholism. Decreased oral intake is frequently compounded by increased urinary excretion exacerbated by diuretic use, which increase urinary excretion of magnesium.