Chronic poisoning due to excess of vitamin A; description of the clinical and roentgen manifestations in seven infants and young children.

Abstract

The clinical manifestations, the roentgenographic changes in the skeleton and the elevation of blood vitamin A are reported in a group of seven infants and younger children poisoned by ingestion of excessive quantities of vitamin concentrates A and D over periods of several months. The differential features of vitamin A poisoning and infantile cortical hyperostosis are discussed. Three types of vitamin concentrate A and D, commonly used in routine pediatric prophylaxis, were found to be toxic when ingested in sufficiently large quantities over sufficiently long periods. The minimal preclinical latent period of vitamin A poisoning was about six months and the minimal toxic daily dose was about 75,000 units. Excessive dosage was due to overenthusiasm for vitamins and ignorance of the dangers of high vitamin intake. The hazards of vitamin A poisoning from the routine prophylactic feeding of vitamin concentrates A and D to healthy infants and children on good diets are considerably greater than the hazards of vitamin A deficiency in healthy infants and children not fed vitamin concentrates.