Pediatric Hypercalcemia Differential Diagnoses
- Author: Ilene A Claudius, MD; Chief Editor: Stephen Kemp, MD, PhD more...
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| Laboratory Test | Reference Range | Normal Response to Increased Calcium |
| Serum calcium | 8.5-10.2 mg/dL | NA |
| Ionized calcium | 1-1.3 mmol/L | NA |
| PTH (intact) | 10-55 pg/mL* | Decrease |
| Serum phosphate | Age-dependent | Increase |
| 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D | 36-108 pmol/L | Decrease |
| Alkaline phosphatase | 68-217 U/L | Normal |
| Urine calcium | 4 mg/kg/d | Increase |
| Urine Ca/Cr ratio | See note† | Increase |
| Urine cAMP‡ | < 5 mol | Decrease |
| *Note that 1 mmol/L equals 4 mg/dL. †In infants younger than 7 months, the reference range is less than 0.86; in infants aged 7-18 months, the reference range is less than 0.6. By age 6-7 years, the adult reference range of less than 0.21 is reached.‡The urine cAMP level generally parallels the PTH level. | ||
| Condition | Serum Phosphorus | Serum Alkaline Phosphatase | Urine Calcium | Urine Phosphate | PTH |
| Hyperparathyroidism | Low | Normal-high | High* | High | High |
| Vitamin D excess | Normal-high | Low | High | High | |
| Malignancy | Often low | High † | Variable | High | |
| Granulomatous disease | Normal-high | Normal-high | High | Normal | |
| Milk alkali syndrome | Normal-high | Normal | Normal | Normal | |
| FHH | Normal or low | Normal | Low (< 200mg/d) | Normal | Low |
| *67% of the time † Except hematologic malignancies, in which alkaline phosphatase is normal | |||||

