Treatment of medically refractory hypercalcemic crisis

Introduction: A 58-year-old patient was admitted to the intensive care unit for severe hypercalcemia (total Ca 5.30 mmol/L) complicated with status epilepticus, hypertensive crisis and acute renal failure. Renal replacement therapy was explored as a method for treating medically refractory hypercalcemia. Methods: Because of hemodynamic instability during intermittent hemodialysis (IHD), continuous venovenous hemo filtration (CVVH) with high rates of calcium-free replacement fluids was instituted. Epoprostenol rather than citrate was used as anticoagulation to ensure adequate extracorporeal anticoagulation. Results: CVVH was continued for 40 hours total during which ionized calcium decreased from 2.19 to 1.07 mmol/L. The etiology of the hypercalcemia was from autoinfarction of a parathyroid adenoma. Conclusions: This is the first case of hypercalcemia treated with CVVH with epoprostenol anticoagulation. This method avoids some of the pitfalls of using intermittent hemodialysis. It is also a rare example of hypercalcemia induced posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES).