title: Intermittent or daily administration of 1-alpha calcidol for nephrectomised infants on peritoneal dialysis?
abstract: Secondary hyperparathyroidism and renal osteodystrophy are major problems in patients with end-stage renal failure and may result in poor growth in children on dialysis. Whether vitamin D sterols should be given intermittently or daily remains a controversial issue. We studied 16 bilaterally nephrectomised infants with congenital nephrosis of the Finnish type (median age 0.54 years), all on peritoneal dialysis. Nine of them were receiving intermittent 1-alpha calcidol therapy and seven daily 1-alpha calcidol therapy. The target serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) level was 2-3 times the upper limit of normal (ULN). There were no statistically significant differences in PTH values between the groups (1.7-times vs 0.5-times the ULN at 3 months and 3.1-times vs 3.4-times the ULN at 6 months, respectively). The required weekly doses of 1-alpha calcidol were low, and there were no significant differences between the intermittent and daily groups (0.06 microg/kg vs 0.04 microg/kg at 3 months and 0.09 microg/kg vs 0.05 microg/kg at 6 months, respectively). The infants on intermittent 1-alpha calcidol showed significant catch-up growth during dialysis after nephrectomy relative to the infants on daily 1-alpha calcidol (-1.6 SD to -0.7 SD vs -1.4 SD to -1.0 SD, respectively; P < 0.05). Our results indicate that either intermittent or daily vitamin D analogue therapy, if started early, will prevent secondary hyperparathyroidism equally well in children on peritoneal dialysis (PD), but intermittent therapy might be more favourable for growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Nephrology and Transplantation, Hospital for Children and Adolescents, University of Helsinki, Stenbäckinkatu 11, 00290 Helsinki, Finland. tuure.saarinen@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: Tuure T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Saarinen
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arikoski
authors.forename: Christer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Holmberg
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rönnholm
mesh_terms: D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002657:Child Development; D012080:Chronic Kidney Disease-Mineral and Bone Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006887:Hydroxycholecalciferols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D009392:Nephrectomy; D009401:Nephrosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000151:congenital / Q000601:surgery; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents; D006887:Hydroxycholecalciferols; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; C008088:alfacalcidol