Q: What one caveat should be known in chronically malnourished ICU
patients regarding their magnesium
level?
Answer: About 30% of
magnesium is bound to albumin and is inactive. Hypoalbuminemia may give
spuriously low magnesium levels. Only free magnesium is biologically active but
most methods of assessing the serum content measure total magnesium
concentration. There is no formula to adjust and ionized magnesium can be
obtained only by direct measurement.
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