Serum Calcium Dynamics Predicting Hydrocephalus After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

302 patients with spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage were monitored for 90 days, with 24.2% developing delayed hydrocephalus. Serial serum calcium measurements at admission, 72 hours, and 7 days post-ictus were analyzed to develop and validate a predictive nomogram. The 72-hour calcium level showed the highest predictive accuracy with an AUC of 0.854.

Use Cases

• Predict delayed hydrocephalus risk using the 72-hour serum calcium level cutoff of ≤7.65 mg/dL for early clinical intervention.
• Validate the performance of an admission-based nomogram incorporating admission serum calcium, hypertension, and Hunt-Hess grade against an external cohort.
• Analyze the association between dynamic serum calcium levels at three time points and the incidence of delayed hydrocephalus over a 90-day monitoring period.
• Compare the predictive accuracy of serum calcium dynamics against conventional severity scales like the Hunt-Hess grade.

Strengths

• Dataset includes 302 patient records with a clear outcome measure (24.2% delayed hydrocephalus incidence).
• Predictive model demonstrated strong performance with an AUC >0.93 in internal validation and 0.898 in external validation.
• Longitudinal data with serial serum calcium measurements at three specific time points post-ictus.

Limitations

• Small sample size of 302 patients limits the generalizability of the predictive model.
• Dataset is contained within a single 14.6 KB DOCX file, suggesting it is a summary or manuscript rather than a raw, analyzable data table.
• Potential for laboratory assay variability affecting the proposed serum calcium cutoff, as noted by the authors.

Provenance

Source

Di Wu via figshare.

Collection Method

Observational cohort study analyzing serial serum calcium measurements in SAH patients monitored for 90 days.

Time Range

Monitoring period of 90 days post-subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Freshness

Last updated March 2026.

Geography

Cohort from two hospitals; specific locations unknown.