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Rickets: Part I

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Abstract

Rickets is characterized by impaired mineralization and ossification of the growth plates of growing children caused by a variety of disorders, the most frequent of which is nutritional deficiency of vitamin D. Despite ample knowledge of its etiology and the availability of cost-effective methods of preventing it, vitamin D deficiency rickets remains a significant problem in developing and developed countries. This two-part review covers the history, etiology, pathophysiology and clinical and radiographical findings of vitamin D deficiency rickets. Other less frequent causes of rickets and some of the disorders entering into the differential diagnoses of rickets are also considered. Controversial issues surrounding vitamin D deficiency include determination of what constitutes vitamin D sufficiency and the potential relationship between low levels of vitamin D metabolites in many individuals and unexplained fractures in infants.

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Notes

  1. As is customary in the United States and Canada, 25D levels are expressed in ng/ml. However, there is a trend toward using nmol/l; 1 ng/ml = 2.5 nmol/l

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Imaging, Box 9, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 225 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Richard M. Shore

  2. Department of Radiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Richard M. Shore

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Russell W. Chesney

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  1. Richard M. Shore
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  2. Russell W. Chesney
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Correspondence to Richard M. Shore.

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Shore, R.M., Chesney, R.W. Rickets: Part I. Pediatr Radiol 43, 140–151 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-012-2532-x

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