Vitamin D Level, Weight, Height, and BMI Among Children with Cystic Fibrosis: A Retrospective Study

 Cystic fibrosis (CF) stands as the most common chronic multisystem and fatal inherited disease.

 The present study aimed to assess the clinical presentation and laboratory findings in children with CF.

 This retrospective cross-sectional study reviewed the records of CF patients over a 2-year period beginning in 2018. The diagnosis of CF was confirmed based on clinical manifestations, sweat chloride tests, or genetic studies. Children aged ≥ 2 years were included; nevertheless, patients without sweat chloride tests or genetic studies were excluded. This study recorded demographic features, gastrointestinal manifestations, vitamin D levels, and the number of hospital admissions. A pediatric gastroenterologist conducted fecal elastase and stool fat analyses to evaluate pancreatic insufficiency. Vitamin D levels < 30 ng/mL were considered vitamin D insufficiency; however, levels < 20 ng/mL indicated a vitamin D deficiency. A P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

 This study included 59 children (37 male and 22 female) in the study. Low weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) percentiles (< 5) were most frequently observed. Approximately 86.4% of the patients had consanguineous parents, and 40.7% had affected siblings. Failure to thrive (FTT) (49.2%) and recurrent respiratory infections (45.8%) were the most common clinical presentations. A majority (57.7%) of the patients were diagnosed before the age of 1 year. The mean number of admissions in the past 2 years was 3, and 58% of the cases reported gastrointestinal symptoms. A significant correlation was observed between vitamin D levels and the number of hospital admissions (Pearson coefficient = 0.298, P = 0.042).

 In this study, there was a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and FTT in children with CF. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between vitamin D levels and the number of hospital admissions over a 2-year period.