Relation Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Consequent Hypocalcemia with Pediatric Heart Failure
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) refers to congestive cardiac failure due to dilation and systolic dysfunction of the ventricles (predominantly the left ventricle). It is the most common form of heart muscle disease in children. Although many individuals with DCM have a familial (genetic) form, DCM can also result from various acquired myocardial insults or interactions of genetics and the environment, such as myocarditis, ingestion of alcohol and other toxic substances, and last but not least, childbirth (peripartum cardiomyopathy), which can occur late in pregnancy or several weeks to months postpartum. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that can be obtained through three ways, from the diet, supplements and lastly, the most important source of vitamin D, which is the endogenous synthesis in the skin upon sunlight exposure. Vitamin D acts as a hormone and has a wide variety of important functions, the most important one being Calcium and Phosphate homeostasis, which is important in maintaining bone integrity, protecting children from rickets and adults from osteomalacia and osteoporosis
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There is no doubt that vitamin D is an important player in our day to day life, it has a variety of functions and benefits, in this report, a link between maternal and infantile vitamin D deficiency and different forms of pediatric heart problems have been established, data from multiple sources have been gathered, and each source studied this link from a different aspect, and the results were somewhat the same. The first source’s objective was to review the prevalence of cardiomyopathy in pediatric cardiology in England and determine the prognosis, 16 subjects were studied, all with cardiac problems, and following biochemical evaluation, all of them were severely deficient in both Calcium and vitamin D. The second source stated that dilated cardiomyopathy and rickets were two of the first signs of vitamin D deficiency in infancy, which was dramatically relieved by vitamin D supplements. The third source established a link between maternal vitamin D deficiency and pediatric heart disease as a 2 months old female was admitted with congestive heart failure which was dramatically relieved by vitamin D supplements. The mother was found to be vitamin D deficient as well as the child.
