TY - JOUR T1 - Northern infant syndrome: a deficiency state? JF - Canadian Medical Association Journal JO - CMAJ SP - 199 LP - 204 VL - 131 IS - 3 AU - J. C. Godel AU - A. G. Hart Y1 - 1984/08/01 UR - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/131/3/199.abstract N2 - A syndrome is described that affected 16 Indian and Inuit infants roughly 3 months old, most of whom were born in settlements in the Canadian Arctic. The infants presented with a clinical picture that included hepatitis, hemolytic anemia, rickets and respiratory distress, a combination that resembled a syndrome first described in malnourished infants at the turn of the century by von Jaksch and Luzet. The clinical course was self-limited, and all the infants survived without sequelae. The cause of the syndrome was not determined; no infectious agents were discovered. However, low levels of vitamins A, C, D and E were found in a few infants in whom assays were done. The implications of these findings and their relation to the possible cause of this "northern infant syndrome" are discussed. ER -