Renal-vertebral index in normal children.

The renal-vertebral index is a simple method of evaluating the renal length in children and is convenient for everyday clinical work. The results of 822 normal children aged between 3 days and 14 years are reported. Infants of up to 1 year were found to have an index of about 4 to 5, pre-school children are an index of 3 1/2 to 4 1/2, and schoolchildren an index of 3 1/2 to 4.

A case of hypoparathyroidism in a child with beta-thalassemia successfully treated with 1 alpha-hydroxy-vitamin D3.

A 13-year-old boy with homozygous beta-thalassemia who developed clinically manifest and biochemically proven hypoparathyroidism is described. The latter disease was attributed to hemosiderosis. Laboratory abnormalities were corrected after 1 alpha-hydroxy-vitamin D3 was administered.