Blood Pressure Effects of Acute Hypercalcemia

The effect of acute hypercalcemia on blood pressure was evaluated in 57 persons (7 with normal serum creatinine and 50 with mild to severe renal failure) while they received an infusion of calcium. As serum calcium rose, hypertension either developed or was aggravated in one of the normal subjects and in 41 of the patients with renal failure; the change in blood pressure was not related to the presence of preexisting hypertension. A significant correlation between the changes in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the increment in plasma calcium was found. Moreover, the hypertensive response to elevation in serum calcium was more common in patients with advanced renal failure (serum creatinine more than 4 mg/100 ml). The observations show that acute hypercalcemia can cause an elevation in blood pressure, and renal failure may predispose to such a hypertensive response.