title: [Seizures in foreign newborns due to maternal vitamin-D deficiency].
abstract: In a Moroccan male, a Turkish female and a Sudanese male newborn who presented with seizures in the second week of life, hypocalcaemia was found. The hypocalcaemia was caused by neonatal vitamin-D deficiency as a result of maternal vitamin-D deficiency during pregnancy. The vitamin-D deficiency of the mothers was caused by the diminished exposure to sunlight as a result of wearing a veil and the dark pigmentation of the skin. The infants were cured by vitamin-D suppletion. With the increasing numbers of dark-skinned women and women who wear veils in the Dutch population, the group of pregnant women and newborns running a risk of vitamin-D deficiency is becoming larger. Therefore, the risk of hypocalcaemia and vitamin-D deficiency rickets in newborns is also increasing. In newborns with seizures, one should think of the possibility of neonatal vitamin-D deficiency, especially if the mothers belong to the group at risk.
authors.affiliation: Sint Franciscus Gasthuis, afd. Kindergeneeskunde, Postbus 10.900, 3004 BA Rotterdam.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Dijkstra
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arpaci
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Huijsman
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Boot
authors.forename: E L T
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: van den Akker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006996:Hypocalcemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008429:Maternal Welfare; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D009018:Morocco / Q000208:ethnology; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D012640:Seizures / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D013397:Sudan / Q000208:ethnology; D013472:Sunlight; D014421:Turkey / Q000208:ethnology; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D