Total plasma magnesium concentration in critically ill foals: preliminary results

Magnesium (Mg) is the fourth most-prevalent cation in the body and it is found predominantly in bone but also in muscle and neuronal tissue; plasma and red blood cells contain less than 1% of the total body Mg. Disorders of Mg regulation are rarely reported in critically ill foals. The aims of this study were: 1- to evaluate total plasma Mg concentration in healthy foals during the first 72 hours of life; 2- to evaluate total plasma Mg concentration during the first 72 hours of hospitalization in sick foals affected by perinatal asphyxia syndrome, prematurity/dismaturity, or sepsis; 3- to compare total plasma Mg concentration between healthy and sick foals; 4- to evaluate the association of Mg concentration at admission with survival and primary clinical diagnosis. Mg concentration measured in healthy foals (n=20) did not show any time-dependent changes. In sick foals (n=97), Mg concentration evaluated at T0 was statistically higher than Mg concentrations measured at subsequent times. Foals affected by PAS (n=20) had a Mg concentration significantly higher (p<0.01) than healthy, septic (n=42) and premature/dysmature (n=13) foals. The t-test did not find any significant difference in Mg plasma concentration between surviving and non-surviving foals. In accordance with Hurcombe et al. (2009), there was no significant difference in plasma Mg concentration between healthy and septic foals. The most important finding of this study is that foals affected by PAS had a higher Mg concentration at admission when compared with foals affected by other pathologies.