[Treatment with vitamin D metabolites for rickets/osteomalacia].

Rickets and osteomalacia is a metabolic bone disease due to a mineralization defect as principal pathophysiology. Since a variety of disorders cause insufficient mineralization of bone, treatment specific to each disorder should be applied to a patient with rickets/osteomalacia. Clinical consensus for medical treatment for rickets/osteomalacia is overviewed in this manuscript. Vitamin D as an anti-rachitic factor and its metabolites play a pivotal role for treatment of patients with rickets/osteomaracia.