The prominent knobs of bone at the costochondral joint

Costochondral joint

The costochondral joints are the articulations between the ribs and costal cartilage. They are hyaline cartilagenous joints. Each rib has a depression shaped like a cup that the costal cartilage articulates with. There is normally no movement at these joints. Joints between costal cartilages of...

s of rickets

Rickets

Rickets is a softening of bones in children due to deficiency or impaired metabolism of vitamin D, magnesium , phosphorus or calcium, potentially leading to fractures and deformity. Rickets is among the most frequent childhood diseases in many developing countries...

 patients are known as a rachitic rosary or beading of the ribs. The knobs create the appearance of large beads under the skin of the rib cage, hence the name by analogy with the beads of a rosary

Rosary

The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...

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Pathophysiology

Rachitic rosary is due to a deficiency of calcium resulting in lack of mineralization and an overgrowth of costochondral joint cartilage. The calcium deficiency may be caused by Rickets

Rickets

Rickets is a softening of bones in children due to deficiency or impaired metabolism of vitamin D, magnesium , phosphorus or calcium, potentially leading to fractures and deformity. Rickets is among the most frequent childhood diseases in many developing countries...

 or other causes of calcium deficiency such as hypoparathyroidism

Hypoparathyroidism

Hypoparathyroidism is decreased function of the parathyroid glands with under production of parathyroid hormone. This can lead to low levels of calcium in the blood, often causing cramping and twitching of muscles or tetany , and several other symptoms...

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External links

• http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-1966079952