=Etiology.=--In considering infantile scurvy we are concerned almost
entirely with the artificially-fed baby. It is true that in the
literature we meet with scattered reports of _scurvy in breast-fed
babies_ and that these cases seem to constitute a noteworthy group; in
point of fact, they are comparatively few. The collective investigation
of the American Pediatric Society includes ten infants who had been
given breast milk exclusively, and Concetti adds another ten in his
compilation of 682 cases.[7] In spite of their paucity these cases
require separate consideration because they represent an important
aspect from an etiologic standpoint. How are we to explain the fact that
human milk may lead to rather than protect against this disorder? On
investigating more closely it is found that these cases differ in
several important respects from the group which has been artificially
fed. They are of a different age; instead of being in the second half
year of life they are generally but a few months old. Furthermore, the
signs are not the same. The hemorrhages involve the upper extremities
fully as frequently as the lower extremities, and often appear at
unusual sites--for example, on the scalp or as large subcutaneous
effusions at various parts of the body. In many instances it has been
noted that the nursing mothers were suffering from some debilitating
disease such as tuberculosis or syphilis, or had an insufficient supply
of milk, or that there had been some other unusual factor, as Freund has
shown in an article devoted to this particular aspect. It is not
necessary, however, to fall back on these attendant circumstances to
exclude from consideration many of the cases. For example, Crandall's
case of "scurvy in an infant of six weeks" should be invalidated, not
because, as Freund suggests, the mother had rheumatism and insufficient
milk, but because of the age of the infant, and the course of the
disease; first one arm was involved, then the other, then hemorrhages
appeared on the skin, and finally it was cured by giving a teaspoonful
of fresh cream before each nursing. Had the baby really suffered from
scurvy it could not have been cured by this means. Southgate's case must
also be rejected, not because the mother was tuberculous but in view of
the symptoms--the arms and legs were pseudoparetic, "the legs, feet and
hands were double their normal size," and moderately large hemorrhages
were present on the back and chest. It seems hardly necessary to discuss
in detail the score of cases which comprise this group, as, in general,
the same criticism applies to all. Some evidently were congenital
syphilis, still more must be regarded as sepsis, and others as unknown
toxic conditions. Apart from these cases the question must be considered
whether scurvy can occur in a breast-fed infant. Personally, we have
never met with a case of this kind, and, as Finkelstein aptly remarks,
there has been "no necropsy of a breast-fed case or conclusive X-ray
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