Bone Abstracts

Background: Syphilis remains a great imitator of myriad of clinical diagnosis. Congenital syphilis, though still uncommon, is on the rise once again. Recognition of syphilitic bone disease and its potential impact on growth is important for long term prognosis. We describe our experience of managing a child with congenital syphilis and multisite osteolytic lesions.Presenting problem: A 6 week-old girl presented with a swollen and painful elbow with reduc...

Background: Meningococcal septicaemia in childhood has a high mortality rate in the acute stage, often requiring intensive care support. Survivors are well known to have long-term sequelae in the form of neuropathy, renal scarring, loss of limbs and necrotic tissue damage. We describe here a case where a survivor of this disease developed growth plate arrest and consequent severe bowing of both tibias which now require surgical correction. Relevant literature is also reviewed....

Introduction: Familial hypomagnesaemia with hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis is a rare autosomal recessive renal tubular disease caused by mutations in Claudin 16 and 19 genes, often complicated by progressive renal failure. We describe the clinical and genetic features and management of this condition in three patients at our centre.Case 1: A 3-year-old south Asian boy with consanguinity presented with hypocalcemic seizures. Investigations revealed h...

Objective: We have observed sex-specific effects of pregnancy calcium carbonate supplementation in 8–12 year old Gambian children, indicating slower growth after infancy in girls born to calcium-supplemented mothers but faster in boys.1,2 IGF-1 is a key driver of growth and is responsive to calcium supplementation.3 The aim of this study was to determine whether the pregnancy supplement had resulted in sex-specific effects on mid-childhood IGF1 of th...

Introduction: Children and adolescents with eating disorders are at risk of reduced bone mass and bone mineral density. Indeed, 60% higher risk of fracture has been reported in childhood/adolescent eating disorders compared to healthy controls. However, few longitudinal studies have been carried out to examine size adjusted changes in bone health over time, and the relationship with anthropometry and growth.Methods: A retrospective audit of 25 female eat...

Objective: The incidence of eating disorders has increased in 15–19 years old1. There is growing concern as to its impact on bone health during adolescence where peak bone mass acquisition is of paramount importance. This paper describes bone size and size adjusted bone mineral content in an adolescent/young adult eating disorder population.Methods: A total of 68 patients (63 F/5 M, 90% anorexia nervosa and 10% atypical eating disorder), ...

Background: Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is the gold standard used for measuring bone mineral density and such readings are currently used to predict osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures. However, no similar prediction model has been developed to identify the age that a patient will become osteoporotic based on DEXA scanning.Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a mathematical model to determine the TTO based on two or more DEXA s...

Objective: A retrospective review of bone morbidity in a contemporary cohort of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) currently managed in a Scottish tertiary neuromuscular centre.Method: Clinical details and results of bone surveillance were obtained in 47 boys, aged 9 years (2–16). DXA bone mineral content (BMC) at total body (TB) and lumbar spine (LS) were adjusted for bone area. Fractures were classified based on radiological confirmation....

Introduction: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a monoclonal disorder characterized by proliferation and accumulation of atypical Langerhans cells. Bone involvement is particularly destructive and to date, no standard of care exists. Bisphosphonates are osteoclast inhibitors that could target the multinucleated giant cells within the LCH lesions and might be used to alleviate bone pain and the progression of disease.Objective: To evaluate the effica...

Introduction: Pubertal suppression with gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue is introduced after onset of puberty in adolescents with gender dysphoria (GD). As puberty is a critical period for bone accrual and changes in body composition, alterations in body composition and bone mass may be observed during treatment.Methods: Thirty-eight adolescents (32/38 assigned females at birth) with GD had dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) prior to s...