No abstract

In 100 infants with nutritional rickets, i.e., responsive to vitamin D therapy, we found a close inverse relationship between serum phosphorus, on the one hand, and serum alkaline phosphatase and the presence of radiological signs of rickets, on the other. There was no correlation between serum calcium and the severity of bone lesions. It is concluded that hypophosphatemia but not hypocalcemia is typical of rickets. Since hypophosphatemia and rickets can be produced experimentally by phosphate deficiency alone, we suggest our infants can be divided into two groups, one with true vitamin D deficiency that leads to hypocalcemia and no or mild bone lesions, and one with primary phosphate deficiency, resulting perhaps from a defect in phosphate transport, which leads to rickets and hypophosphatemia.

Transient hyperprolactinaemia has been reported to follow unprovoked seizures, a finding proposed to be useful in the differential diagnosis of epilepsy. There is also evidence that patients with unprovoked seizures may have high baseline prolactin levels, which could be of value in detecting those predisposed to epilepsy after a first convulsive attack. The purpose of this study was to examine whether prolactin levels are elevated: (1) postictally in febrile seizures and (2) interictally in afebrile seizures. In 17 children with simple febrile seizures, mean postictal prolactin value (370 +/- 160 mU/l, mean +/- SD) was significantly higher (approximately 0.001) than the mean baseline value of 18 seizure-free controls (202 +/- 136 mU/l). The mean baseline prolactin values were not significantly different: (1) in ten children with afebrile versus ten seizure-free controls and (2) in 18 children with febrile seizures associated with high risk for subsequent afebrile seizures versus 23 children with febrile seizures but unlikely to suffer from afebrile seizures. CONCLUSION. Postictal prolactin levels may be a useful marker of recent febrile seizures, while baseline prolactin levels do not appear to have any prognostic significance in afebrile seizures.

p i t a l des Enfants. 168. Cours de 1'Argonne-33077 Bordeaux-F M E-95 P l a s m Thy,l obul i n (Tg) i n hypothyroid children under L. Thyroxine therapy (L.T.).