An unusual association:: neonatal rickets and calcinosis cutis

We present the case of severe hypocalcaemia in a 5 weeks old baby, secondary to pre and postnatal vitamin D deficiency. The symptomatic hypocalcaemia led to several life threatening episodes of seizures. Following initial calcium gluconate infusion, multiple phospho-calcic deposits in the soft tissue and cerebral tissue were observed. A multifactorial etiology of calcinosis cutis was suggested by the association between infusion of high and repeated doses of calcium gluconate in a severely hypocalcaemic baby, with a low 25-hydroxyvitamin D-3 level, associated to a renal and bone relative resistance to the high level of PTH. The aim of this report is to raise pediatric health care professionals awareness on the relatively rare entity known as calcinosis cutis.