Bone Mineral Density of Indian Children and Adolescents with Cystic Fibrosis.

OBJECTIVE To document bone mineral density of children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Tertiary-care center of Northern India, July 2012 to August 2015. PARTICIPANTS 52 children aged 6-18 years with cystic fibrosis and 62 healthy controls of similar age and sex. METHODS Both patients and controls were stratified into two groups, as pre-pubertal and peri-/post-pubertal, and compared for whole body bone mineral density, measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Serum levels of calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, 25-hydroxyvitamin D and parathyroid hormone were measured in children with cystic fibrosis. RESULTS Compared with controls, the mean (SD) bone mineral density of children with cystic fibrosis was significantly lower in both the pre-pubertal (0.7 (0.1) g/cm2 vs 0.9 (0.1) g/cm2; P<0.001)) and peri-/post-pubertal groups (0.9 (0.1) g/cm2 vs 1.1 (0.1) g/cm2; P<0.001). Also, the mean (SD) bone mineral apparent density of pre-pubertal and peri-/post-pubertal cystic fibrosis patients was lower than the controls (P <0.001 and P= 0.01, respectively). Thirty-seven (71.2%) cystic fibrosis patients had serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level below 15 ng/mL. CONCLUSION Bone mineral density of children with cystic fibrosis was significantly lower than controls; majority of them were vitamin-D deficient. Intervening at an early stage of the disease and providing optimal therapy involving simultaneous management of the several factors affecting bone mineral accretion may be beneficial in improving bone health of these patients.