-Original-

Serum Selenium Concentration in Neurosurgery Patients Receiving Parenteral Nutrition

Kenta Koketsu¹, Kyongsong Kim¹, Riku Mihara¹, Hiroyuki Dan¹, Tomohiro Ozeki¹, Hiroaki Fujita¹, Minoru Ideguchi¹ and Yasuo Murai²

¹Department of Neurological Surgery, Nippon Medical School Chiba Hokusoh Hospital, Chiba, Japan
²Department of Neurological Surgery, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan

Background: Selenium is an important trace element that helps maintain physiological functions. We calculated the incidence of selenium deficiency in enterally and parenterally fed patients with acute neurologic disorders.
Methods: We enrolled 39 consecutive patients who received enteral and/or parenteral nutrition for 14 days or longer (23 men, mean age 74.6 years). Serum selenium was recorded on admission and at 2 weeks and 1 month thereafter. Low selenium was defined as a level lower than 107 μg/L. A diagnosis of selenium deficiency was based on the clinical guidelines for selenium deficiency.
Results: The mean serum selenium level at admission was 119.9 μg/L in 38 patients but was lower in the 39th patient, who had undergone prolonged tube feeding. There was a weak negative correlation between selenium level and patient age, and when the age cutoff for detecting low selenium was set to 75 years, the sensitivity was 91.7% and the specificity was 53.8%. No selenium-deficient patients presented with clinical symptoms associated with selenium deficiency (all had subclinical low selenium). Selenium was normal in 26 patients, although 2 presented with low selenium 2 weeks post-admission. At 1 month after admission, no patient had a low selenium level.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that selenium measurement on admission may be advisable for patients aged 75 years or older and for those undergoing hemodialysis or prolonged tube feeding. Selenium deficiency is a concern when neurosurgery patients with acute neurologic disorders are fed enterally or parenterally.

J Nippon Med Sch 2026; 93: 252-258

Keywords
selenium, serum concentration, neurosurgical patient, enteral nutrition

Correspondence to
Kyongsong Kim
kyongson@nms.ac.jp

Received, December 17, 2025
Accepted, February 20, 2026