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Hypercalcaemia - Background information
What is it?
- Hypercalcaemia can be defined as a serum calcium concentration of 2.65 mmol/L (or higher) on two occasions, following adjustment (correction) for the serum albumin concentration [Davies et al, 2002; Smellie et al, 2008].
- Hypercalcaemia can be classified as mild, moderate, or severe based on adjusted serum calcium concentration. However, this does not necessarily reflect the severity of symptoms which are also dependent on the rate of onset of hypercalcaemia [Smellie et al, 2008].
- Mild hypercalcaemia is an adjusted serum calcium concentration of 2.65–3.00 mmol/L.
- Moderate hypercalcaemia is an adjusted serum calcium concentration of 3.01–3.40 mmol/L.
- Severe hypercalcaemia is an adjusted serum calcium concentration of greater than 3.40 mmol/L.
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