CORRELATION OF SERUM VITAMIN D LEVEL WITH MORTALITY IN PATIENTS WITH SEPSIS

Background: Vitamin D insufficiency is a common global phenomenon. Its insufficiency is also reported to be common in hospitalized patients and particularly in critically ill patients. Methods: Following ethical approval, consent will be sought from either the patient or assent from a near relative. Successive patients admitted to the medical emergency and ICU at tertiary care health center who fulfill the following criteria for sepsis, within a 24 h time window, were included in the study. Results: A total of 50 patients were enrolled in the study, 37 (74.00%) were discharged whereas 13(26.00%) patients expired. The majority of patients, irrespective of outcome had Vitamin D deficiency. Although normal Vitamin D levels were observed in relatively higher proportion of patients who were discharged (29 patients) as compared to those who expired (12 patients) yet this difference was not significant statistically (P = 0.481). Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency leads to increased risk of mortality in the critically ill patients. Keywords: Sepsis, Vitamin D deficiency, Mortality.