ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2016 March;175(3):85-96

Copyright © 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Pediatric cases of osteogenesis imperfecta and the effect of cyclic zoledronic acid therapy

Abdulmoein E. AL-AGHA ^{1, 2}, Hassan A. JAMAL ¹, Maha A. ALFARAIDHY ¹

¹ Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; ² Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is one of the leading causes of severe osteoporosis in children. Osteogenesis imperfecta is characterized by bone deformities, short stature and fractures in neonates and children. Bisphosphonate therapy is one of the most prevalent used treatments of OI for the improvement of bone mineral density and reduction of fractures in patients of OI. Zoledronic acid is one of the Bisphosphonate used as a treatment in children with primary osteoporosis and Osteogenesis imperfecta. Zoledronic acid is a modality with not much research and data available regarding the efficacy and safety of the treatment in children and adolescents. The objective of the study was to investigate the safety and efficiency of the Cyclic Zoledronic acid treatment on children and adolescents who are suffering from Osteogenesis imperfecta. The study was carried out at King Abdul Aziz University Hospital (KAAUH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
METHODS: A retrospective study design was used to review all the patients who were clinically diagnosed with OI and followed up at KAAUH, and have received cyclic doses of Zoledronic acid intravenously for twelve years ie. 2002 to 2014.
RESULTS: After the administration of zoledronic acid, there was a noteworthy improvement in terms of rate of occurrence of fractures, patients’ quality of life, pain frequency, and mobility. The clinical safety of the zoledronic treatment has found to be superior to pamidronate.
CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous cyclic Zoledronic acid is an efficient and effective therapy with an acceptable safety profile for OI patients with no documented long term complications in children. Therefore, Zoledronic acid therapy can be successfully used in children, adolescents and adults with Osteogenesis imperfecta.