Bony manifestation of rickets in a sunny city

A case report from Yazd, Iran

Abstract

Rickets is disease that occurs in growing bones in which defective mineralization occurs in both the bone and the cartilage of the epiphyseal growth plate, resulting in the retardation of growth and skeletal deformities. Rickets is more common in areas with less sunlight. However, this case report presents a case of the bony manifestation of rickets with the intake of vitamin D supplements in Yazd, a city in central Iran that has sunshine almost every day. A patient was referred to an out-patient general pediatric clinic for deformities of the legs and growth disturbance, with his height far below the normal range. The changes that were most evident in his X-rays were the bowing of the long bones of the legs and forearms and the cupping of the wrist metaphyseal region. In summary, we present a patient with bony manifestation of rickets despite living in a sunny area and taking vitamin D supplements. Thus, it is important to remember that rickets is still a common disease among children in Iran. More studies of this issue should be conducted, including the identification of abnormal cases and rescheduling vitamin D supplementation programs.