Results of serum lithium performed in the Chemical Pathology Laboratory, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, over a years' period (June 1991 till May 1992) formed the subject of study. A total of 277 tests were carried out on 148 patients, giving a frequency of about 23.1 tests per month. Complete data regarding age, sex and ethnic group was available for 140 subjects. There were 74 males and 66 females. Racial distribution was 72 Malays, 42 Chinese and 26 Indians. Their ages ranged from 15 to 80 years. One hundred and twenty-three subjects (87.6%) were within the 3rd to 5th decade of life. 136/277 (49.1%) of serum lithium levels were less than 0.6 mmol/l and 24/277 (8.7%) gave results greater than 1.0 mmol/l. Only 6 tests gave values which exceeded 2 mmol/l. This study reveals the need to conduct a prospective study to determine the underlying cause of the high incidence of low serum lithium levels and whether this situation is associated with a satisfactory treatment response in the said population.
A retrospective six-month study of serum calcium and albumin in patients treated at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital was carried out. There were 19,291 subjects, of which the prevalences of hypocalcemia (corrected serum calcium of < or = 2.1 mmol/l) and hypercalcemia (corrected serum calcium of > 2.7 mmol/l) were 18.0% (3460 subjects) and 2.4% (468 subjects) respectively. Persistent hypocalcemia (a minimum of first two consecutive corrected serum calcium of < or = 2.1 mmol/l) was found in 408/19,291 subjects 2.1%). Serum calcium values of < 2.00 mmol/l were found in 98.5% of this group. Persistent hypercalcemia (a minimum of first two consecutive corrected serum calcium of > 2.7 mmol/l) was found in 108/19,291 subjects (0.5%) and 52/108 subjects (48.1%) had serum calcium values of > or = 3.0 mmol/l. 2902/3460 subjects (83.8%) and 313/468 subjects (66.9%) the hypocalcemia and hypercalcemia groups respectively failed to be retested (singletons). In the hypocalcemia group, 1115/2902 (38.4%) showed corrected serum calcium values of < 2.00 mmol/l), whilst 100/313 subjects (31.9%) of the hypercalcemia group had corrected serum calcium values of > or = 3.00 mmol/l. There were no significant differences between the mean corrected serum calcium between 3 age groups of the test population, namely in childhood ( < or = 65 years).