- Etiology: deficiency of Vitamin D leading to disordered mineralization and ossification of the physes
- Imaging:
— Demineralization may precede typical rachitic findings
— Most evident at metaphyses of fastest growing bones – distal radius + femur + costochondral junctions (rachitic rosary)
— Disorganized cartilage expands, apparent widening of growth plate, zone of provisional calcification has decreased mineralization / trabeculae fade into the cartilage / irregular margins at the cartilage-bone interface / rim of bone around the physis (metaphyseal cupping), stress from ligament attachments leading to fraying and flared
Radiology Cases of Vitamin D Deficiency Rickets
