A 6-month-old boy who experienced unexplained seizures was ultimately diagnosed with lead poisoning from a course of ancient Indian medicine.
The week prior to landing in the hospital, the baby had been eating less and vomiting, and had become more irritable, reported Tony Huynh, PhD, MBBS, and Jason Haines, MBBS, both of Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Known causes of seizures in infancy include infection, hypoglycemia, electrolyte disturbances -- particularly hypocalcemia -- epilepsy, structural brain disease, accidental ingestion, and metabolic disorders, Huynh told MedPage Today in an e-mail. Additionally, microcytic anemia raises the potential for iron deficiency or another chronic underlying process, he noted.
Lab tests revealed microcytic anemia, along with abnormally low calcium and phosphate levels. However, it was an x-ray of the baby's left hand that provided the "crucial clue" to the diagnosis, Huynh said.
The x-ray was taken to assess the boy's hypocalcemia, and showed a linear thickening of the long bone at the growth plates in the radius, ulna, metacarpals, and phalanges, Huynh and Haines explained.
