title: Failure of calcitriol treatment in a patient with malignant osteopetrosis.
abstract: In an attempt to stimulate bone resorption, a 10-week-old infant with malignant infantile osteopetrosis was treated with high doses of calcitriol, a potent bone resorption stimulatory agent, combined with a low calcium diet to prevent hypercalcaemia. Although calcitriol administration was initiated at this very young age, our patient did not show any clinical, radiological, or histological improvement. Despite reports of positive results of this treatment in the literature, our patient did not reveal any signs of bone resorption. She eventually died from the complications of osteopetrosis at the age of 6 months after 88 days of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Academic Hospital Leyden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: van Lie Peters
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Aronson
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Everts
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Dooren
mesh_terms: D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000473:pathology; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010022:Osteopetrosis / Q000151:congenital / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood; D017211:Treatment Failure; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D014807:Vitamin D; D002117:Calcitriol