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Hypercalcemia in 3 children who had more than 30 ng of vitamin D – March 2012

Hypercalcemia in Children Receiving Pharmacologic Doses of Vitamin D.

Pediatrics. 2012 Mar 12.
Vanstone MB, Oberfield SE, Shader L, Ardeshirpour L, Carpenter TO.
Department of Pediatrics (Endocrinology), Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut

Vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, requiring vitamin D at doses greater than daily dietary intake. Several treatment regimens are found in the literature, with wide dosing ranges, inconsistent monitoring schedules, and lack of age-specific guidelines.

We describe 3 children, ages 2 weeks to 2 and 9/12 years, who recently presented to our institution with hypercalcemia and hypervitaminosis D (25-hydroxyvitamin D levels >75 ng/mL), associated with treatment of documented or suspected vitamin D-deficient rickets.

The doses of vitamin D used were within accepted guidelines and believed to be safe. The patients required between 6 weeks and 6 months to correct the elevated serum calcium, with time to resolution of hypercalcemia related to age and peak serum calcium, but not to peak 25-hydroxyvitamin D level.

With recent widespread use of vitamin D in larger dosages in the general population, we provide evidence that care must be taken when using pharmacologic dosing in small children. With limited dosing guidelines available on a per weight basis, the administration of dosages to infants that are often used in older children and adults has toxic potential, requiring a cautious approach in dose selection and careful follow-up. Dosage recommendations may need to be reassessed, in particular, where follow-up and monitoring may be compromised.

PMID: 22412034
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