Calcium and Phosphate Supplements in Breast Milk–Related Rickets

Abstract

• Rickets developed in a very-low-birth-weight infant fed exclusively human milk. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was normal, and serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D level was elevated; parathyroid hormone and calcitonin levels were normal. Rickets responded to supplements of calcium and phosphate, as determined by roentgenograms and measurement of bone mineral content by direct photon absorptiometry. Human-milk feeding in very-low-birth-weight infants requires observation for hypophosphatemia and clinical and radiological signs of rickets. In such infants, it may be necessary to supplement breast-milk feeding with calcium and phosphate. (Am J Dis Child 1982;136:581-583)