Wallach's Interpretation of Diagnostic Tests: Pathways to Arriving at a Clinical Diagnosis (764 page)

   Hemodialysis

   Hypoparathyroidism (primary, secondary)

   Vitamin D deficiency

   Toxic shock syndrome

   Fat embolism

   Hypokalemia protects the patient from hypocalcemic tetany; correction of hypokalemia without correction of hypocalcemia may provoke tetany

   Malabsorption

   Osteomalacia

   Pancreatitis

   Renal failure

   Rickets

   Limitations

   Differences in specimen preparation and electrode selectivity are probably responsible for differences in reported reference ranges. Heparin itself causes 0.04 mg/dL decrease for each unit added per milliliter of blood.

   Adjusting the pH of the specimen to 7.4 at the time of measurement is not necessary if the specimen is collected anaerobically.