Age at diagnosis and abilities in idiopathic hypercalcaemia

Forty three children aged 6 to 16 years with a documented history of idiopathic infantile hypercalcaemia were assessed on a variety of cognitive and behavioural measures. No relation was found between the age at which hypercalcaemia was diagnosed and subsequent full scale intelligence quotients (IQ) and reading or spelling abilities. Verbal IQ was, however, significantly higher than performance IQ, which had an inverse relation with age at diagnosis. Furthermore, scores for deviant behaviour were found to correlate with age at diagnosis. Thus the characteristic psychological profile of this syndrome may be in part a function of hypercalcaemia during infancy.