Effect of sodium fluoride, inorganic phosphate, and oxymetholone therapies in osteoporosis: a six-year progress report.

Elderly osteoporotic males treated with sodium fluoride or inorganic phosphate for 4 years plus 2 years of follow-up observations exhibited a mean but not significant decrease in the rate of bone mass loss in comparison with those receiving oxymetholone or a placebo. No hip fractures occurred in the patients who received fluoride, while 11 hip fractures occurred in the patients in the phosphate, oxymetholone, and control groups. Because the densitometric trends and fracture incidence are impressive, the progress of all subjects will be followed for an additional 4 years.

Skeletal status in mentally retarded patients on anticonvulsive therapy.

X-ray densitometric measurement of radius mineral content and radiogrammetry of the cortical index of the second metacarpal were made on 644 institutionalized mentally retarded males and females, 224 of whom had received long-term anticonvulsant drug treatment. Analysis of variance of radius mineral content and metacarpal cortical index indicated that values for mentally retarded persons are not significantly different from the normal-for-age values. Radius density among anticonvulsant males, however, was significantly lower than that of non-anticonvulsant males in four out of five age groups. Among females the anticonvulsant patients were not significantly lower in radius density than the non-anticonvulsant females. Similar trends were evident in cortical indices of the second metacarpal: Two out of five age groups of anticonvulsant males were significantly lower than non-anticonvulsant males, while only one of five age groups of anticonvulsant females was significantly lower than non-anticonvulsant females. The effects of diphenylhydantoin and phenobarbital are similar in their adverse effects on bone growth and development.

Effect of postoperative hypoparathyroidism on bone density.

The mean radiographic vertebral density of permanently hypoparathyroid patients was elevated above the normal-for-age, while the vertebral density of transiently hypoparathyroid patients was normal. Of the patients who received desiccated thyroid, both the transient and permanent hypoparathyroid patients had significantly higher-than-normal vertebral densities (P less than 0.01 and P less than 0.02, respectively). The duration of thyroid treatment corresponded with the degree of hypermineralized vertebral density in the patients with permanent hypoparathyroidism and permanent hypothyroidism (r = .728, P less than 0.01). However, in the transient hypoparathyroid patients, no significant relationship was found between the duration of thyroid treatment and vertebral density. Visual assessment of spinal radiographs for incidence of vertebral compressions revealed no significant differences between hypoparathyroid patients and the controls. In the patients with transient and permanent hypoparathyroidism who received calcium and vitamin D, the initially depressed blood calcium levels were within normal limits at the follow-up observation, but the untreated permanent hypoparathyroid patients were still depressed.