Partial hypoparathyroidism. A variant of transient congenital hypoparathyroidism
S. W. Kooh and A. Binet
Department of Paediatrics, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
We encountered three children who had neonatal hypocalcemia followed by a
period of normocalcemia and recurrence of hypocalcemia later in childhood.
They were full-term infants with normal birth weights who developed
hypocalcemia within the first 48 hours after birth. The hypocalcemia
resolved in 1 week, 3 months, and 14 months in the three patients. The
recurrences of hypocalcemia occurred at 4, 7, and 12 years of age. Their
plasma parathyroid hormone concentrations were consistently low but
detectable. We suggest that partial hypoparathyroidism is the underlying
abnormality in these patients and that neonatal hypocalcemia in otherwise
healthy infants indicates the need for calcium measurements during
childhood and adolescence.
