What condition is either the sole cause or an important contributor to hypermagnesemia?
Almost all cases of hypermagnesemia have kidney failure as the primary or contributing etiology. The kidney is able to ramp up excretion of magnesium by minimizing magnesium reabsorption, so in most cases of clinically significant hypermagnesemia, there is a component of chronic kidney disease (CKD). In addition to CKD, there is usually another inciting event: increased GI intake, IV infusion, or cell destruction.