Initial descriptions of hypophosphatemic rickets emphasized the poor clinical response to
vitamin D, rather than the distinctive finding of marked hypophosphatemia. Such early
descriptions became the basis for nomenclature of the rachitic disorders; so the name
vitamin D-resistant rickets was widely used before the recognition that many cases were
secondary to renal phosphate wasting. The name, vitamin D-resistant rickets, was well-
entrenched by the time a more physiologic description was suggested. To add to the …