Osteopenia Versus Rickets in Premature Infants

Metabolic bone disease is a well recognized problem in premature infants. It has been called "osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypomineralization, undermineralization, demineralization, or rickets of prematurity." As stressed by Brooke and Lucas (1), no term is ideal for a condition that encompasses a variety of disturbances ranging from mild undermineralization to frank radiological rickets with fractures. Although, the border between the two conditions may be blurred, osteopenia should be used to define a mild to severe degree of hypomineralization of the skeleton when compared to fetal accretion rate whereas rickets should be reserved for cases in which there are definite radiological features of rickets in metaphyses of long bones with or without fractures.