children s health issues
Hypophosphatemic Rickets
Introduction
Hypophosphatemic rickets is a disorder in which the bones become painfully soft and bend easily because the blood contains low levels of the electrolyte phosphate. (See also Introduction to Congenital Kidney Tubular Disorders .) This very rare disorder is nearly always hereditary. It is most commonly inherited as a Dominant x-linked disorders that is carried on the X chromosome, one of the two sex chromosomes. Because only one gene is needed when a dominant gene is involved, one of the parents is likely to have the syndrome. Siblings of children with the disorder have a 50% chance of having it. There are several other even rarer forms of hypophosphatemic rickets. The genetic defect causes a kidney tubule abnormality that allows an inappropriately high amount of phosphate to be excreted into the urine, resulting in low levels of Overview of Phosphate's Role in the Body in the blood. Because bones need phosphate for growth and strength, this deficiency causes defective bones. In rare cases, the disorder develops as a result of certain cancers, such as giant cell tumors of bone, sarcomas, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. Hypophosphatemic rickets is not the same as rickets caused by Vitamin D Deficiency . 