[Vitamin D in the prevention of growth disorders]

A recent therapeutic development consists in the utilization of vitamins as pharmacological agents in the treatment of a variety of diseases. The growth defect accompanying deficiency rickets and other forms of refractory rickets can be prevented or corrected, at least partially, by the use of high doses of its metabolites, 25 OH D3, 1,25 (OH)2 D3, 1 OH D3. On the basis of many published studies and of a few patients personally observed it is possible to delineate the form and the dosage of these drugs for the treatment of vitamin D dependent rickets and of the bone lesions in renal insufficiency, in familial hypophosphatemic rickets and in complex tubulopaties. In some of these a dietetic treatment in association with vitamin D or its metabolites may be essential.