Rickets: case series and diagnostic review of hypovitaminosis D in swine

Abstract

Rickets can be attributed to nutritional, genetic, hormonal, or toxic disturbances and is classified as a metabolic bone disease. Rickets is most often associated with inappropriate dietary levels of calcium, phosphorus, and/or vitamin D. During a 27-month period (January 2010 through March 2012), the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory investigated causes of sudden, unexpected death and lameness in growing pigs throughout the Midwestern United States. Clinical observations from 17 growing pig cases included weakness, lameness, reluctance to move, muscle fasciculations and/or tremors, tetany, and death. Ribs were weak, soft, and bent prior to breaking; rachitic lesions were apparent at costochondral junctions in multiple cases. Acute and/or chronic bone fractures were also noted in multiple bones. Failure of endochondral ossification, expanded physes, infractions, thin trabeculae, and increased osteoclasts were noted microscopically. Decreased bone ash and serum 25(OH)D(3), combined with clinical and microscopic evaluation, confirmed a diagnosis of vitamin D-dependent rickets in all cases. In 3 cases, disease was linked to a specific nutrient supplier that ultimately resulted in a voluntary feed recall; however, most cases in the current investigation were not associated with a particular feed company. The present report describes vitamin D-associated rickets and its importance as a potential cause of weakness, lameness, muscle fasciculations, recumbency or sudden unexpected death in swine, and describes appropriate samples and tests for disease diagnosis.