Empeiria

High blood calcium

Clinically: Hypercalcaemia · also high calcium, raised calcium, hypercalcemia disease

electrolyte ICD-10 E83.52 MONDO MONDO:0001566 unverified
This describes what this condition typically looks like. It is not a diagnosis and cannot tell you whether you have it -- patterns overlap, results vary between labs, and the same numbers mean different things in different people. Diagnosis usually rests on Calcium, total, interpreted alongside symptoms and history rather than read off a report.

unverified These explanations are written to be easy to read and have not yet been checked against a source. The ranges and measurement notes on this page show theirs.

definition unverified

Calcium in the blood is above normal. The two usual explanations are an overactive parathyroid gland or, less often, an underlying malignancy.

Serum calcium concentration above the normal range, defined as greater than 10.5 mg/dL and graded mild (10.5-12 mg/dL), moderate (12.1-14 mg/dL) or severe (above 14 mg/dL). Most cases are caused by primary hyperparathyroidism, with excess PTH secretion from enlarged or adenomatous parathyroid glands, or by malignancy.

caveats unverified

The calcium result has to be read next to albumin. When albumin is low, the calcium reads lower than it really is. A true rise can be missed that way.

The calcium result has to be read next to albumin. When albumin is low, the calcium reads lower than it really is. A true rise can be missed that way.

No clinical version written yet.

The typical lab pattern

What the diagnosis rests on

The results a diagnosis is actually made on.

Calcium, total high — Defined as serum calcium above 10.5 mg/dL: mild 10.5-12, moderate 12.1-14, severe above 14 mg/dL.
Consistent with it

Fits the picture, but not enough on its own.

Albumin either — Total calcium should be corrected for albumin, the main protein that carries calcium in the blood.
Phosphate low — Low phosphate with high calcium points towards too much parathyroid hormone, which makes the kidneys lose phosphate.
Alkaline phosphatase high — Often raised in primary hyperparathyroidism, the most common cause, and falls after surgery.

How it usually feels

Frequencies say how often a symptom accompanies this condition — not the other way round. Most people with any of these symptoms do not have this.