Question

My baby is now four months and twenty days old and often shakes her head, especially before and after sleeping. She also shakes violently during play. After taking her to the hospital for a check-up, the doctor suspects it might be osteomalacia, and wrist X-ray confirmed it as osteomalacia (active stage). The baby weighs 21 jin (about 10.6 kg), while at birth, she only weighed 5 jin and 6 liang (about 2.8 kg). Is she growing too fast? What impact will it have on her future growth? How can we prevent it?

Answer

Osteomalacia is a common systemic disease in infants, mainly caused by a lack of vitamin D leading to calcium-phosphorus metabolism disorders and bone-like tissue calcification disorders, which can be severe enough to cause skeletal deformities. It is important to take early measures to prevent the occurrence of osteomalacia, especially for children between 6 months and 2 years old who are most susceptible to the disease.

Diagnosis

  1. General symptoms: Early symptoms may include sleeplessness, night terrors, crying, irritability, etc. As the condition progresses, systemic muscle weakness, enlarged liver and spleen, abdominal bulging, excessive sweating, anemia, and delayed development may be observed.
  2. Head: In infants under 6 months of age, there may be skull softening, with a pingpong ball-like elasticity when pressing the central part of the parietal or occipital bone with fingers, resulting in a square head. The fontanelle may be extremely large and delayed in closure.
  3. Chest: There may be bulging at the junction of the ribs and costal cartilage, forming “rib beads,” with the sternum protruding forward to create “pigeon chest.” The chest cavity may indent along the diaphragm attachment.
  4. Spine: There may be kyphosis or lateral curvature…