This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Genaro M. A. Palmieri, MD; James A. Pitcock, MD
Memphis

Arch Intern Med. 1988;148(2):484.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—Gerhardt et al¹ reported hypercalcemia of unknown origin in 16 patients with advanced liver disease. Unfortunately, the authors apparently did not study the status of the bone in those patients. The presence of hypercalcemia and total or partial suppression of parathyroid hormone secretion is one of the landmarks of the syndrome of aluminum intoxication. Although frequently observed in patients with renal failure, it can also occur in other conditions. We have reported aluminum intoxication in two patients with advanced liver disease and hypercalcemia.² In one patient the diagnosis was made after a successful liver transplant. Correction of hypercalcemia and skeletal lesions occurred after treatment with deferoxamine.^2,3

Although reduced skeletal uptake in bone scans³ associated with hypercalcemia and partial or total parathyroid hormone suppression strongly suggests the possibility of aluminum intoxication, an undecalcified iliac crest bone biopsy with staining for aluminum is necessary for . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?