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Can the fast bone loss in osteoporotic and osteopenic patients be stopped with active vitamin D metabolites?

Dambacher, M. ; Kranich, M. ; Schacht, E. ; Neff, M.

In: Calcified Tissue International, 1997, vol. 60, no. 1, p. 115-118

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    Title
    • Can the fast bone loss in osteoporotic and osteopenic patients be stopped with active vitamin D metabolites?
    Author
    • Dambacher, M.. University Clinic Balgrist, Forchstrasse 340, CH-8008, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Kranich, M.. University Clinic Balgrist, Forchstrasse 340, CH-8008, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Schacht, E.. E. Tosse u. Co.MBH, Hamburg, Germany
    • Neff, M.. Center for Osteoporosis, CH-8031, Zurich, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • Calcified Tissue International, 1997, vol. 60, no. 1, p. 115-118. Springer-Verlag
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:311959
    Summary
    The aim of this study was to evaluate whether fast trabecular bone loss in osteoporotic and osteopenic patients can effectively be treated with active vitamin D metabolites. Thirty-one osteoporotic and osteopenic patients were monitored between 4 and 22 months before and between 8 and 18 months during the treatment. Fast bone losers were designated as osteoporotic or osteopenic patients with a loss of trabecular bone density in the radius of 3% or more calculated for 1 year. For this differentiation, the high precise peripheral quantitative computed tomography system (DENSISCAN 1000) was used (reproducability 0.3% in mixed collectives). The pretreatment loss and the "gain” under treatment with active vitamin D metabolites was calculated for 1 year. The treatment consisted of either 0.5 μg calcitriol daily or 1 μg of alfacalcidol daily. Before treatment, the trabecular bone loss in the radius/year was −6.6 ± 0.5% (mean ± SEM). After treatment with vitamin D metabolites, the trabecular bone gain in the radius/year was 0.01 ± 0.6% (mean ± SEM). The difference was highly significant (P < 0.001). In contrast to this, the loss of cortical bone density before treatment was −1.8 ± 0.3% (mean ± SEM) and the reduced loss after treatment −0.2 ± 0.4% (mean ± SEM), both values calculated for 1 year. This difference was less significant (P < 0.05). This study shows that the treatment with active vitamin D metabolites is very effective in slowing fast trabecular bone loss in osteoporotic and osteopenic patients