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Clinical features

Authoring team

An infant with rickets may present with convulsions or tetany. The child may fail to thrive. On examination the child may be listless and flaccid.

Features of rickets include: (1)

  • craniotabes - soft skull bones in early life
  • delayed closure of the anterior fontanelle
  • thickening of the knees, ankles and wrists
  • Harrison's sulcus
  • prominence of costochondral junctions - "rachitic rosary"
  • bowing of the radius, ulna, femur and tibia
  • proximal myopathy and hypotonia
  • pathological fractures
  • reduced structural growth and bone pain

Signs and symptoms of hypocalcaemia, such as muscle cramps, muscle weakness, numbness, paraesthesia, carpopedal spasm, tetany, and seizures may be present in hypocalcaemic rickets. (2)

Reference

  1. Chanchlani R et al. An Overview of Rickets in Children. Kidney Int Rep. 2020 Apr 11;5(7):980-990
  2. Nield LS, Mahajan P, Joshi A, et al. Rickets: not a disease of the past. Am Fam Physician. 2006 Aug 15;74(4):619-26.

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The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

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