Benign carotenemia in children.

The author discusses five infants, aged eight to 11 months, with carotenemia secondary to excessive consumption of carotene-containing foods. These infants had white sclerae in spite of yellow discoloration of the skin. Simple elimination of these foods led to clearing of the yellow skin color and normalization of serum carotene levels. All infants had normal vitamin A levels, white cell count, serum glucose, lipids, liver- and thyroid-function tests. The benign nature of this condition is emphasized.