title: Bone Mineral Density and Growth in Children Having Undergone Liver Transplantation With Corticosteroid-Free Immunosuppressive Protocol.
abstract: Children post-liver transplantation (post-LTX) are at risk of growth delay and decreased bone mineral density (BMD) secondary to corticosteroid (CS) therapy and suboptimal intake of nutrients important for bone health. The pediatric LTX program at Stollery Children's Hospital introduced a CS-free LTX regimen in 2003. This retrospective study investigated whether the implementation of a CS-free protocol resulted in improvements in BMD (dual x-ray absorptiometry) and growth following LTX.
  
  
  
  A retrospective chart review of all children undergoing LTX was conducted. The parameters included repeated measures of anthropometric (weight, weight z score, height, height z score), BMD/bone mineral content (BMC), laboratory variables, graft function (number/severity of rejection), and CS therapy (dose, duration).
  
  
  
  A total of 39 patients met study inclusion (20 male; n = 28 on CS; n = 11 CS-free). Mean duration of follow-up was 5.5 ± 3.3 years. The mean weight and height z scores were -0.31 ± 0.14 (CS) and 0.22 ± 0.23 (CS-free; P = .09) and -0.71 ± 0.13 (CS) and 0.23 ± 0.22 (CS-free; P = .002), respectively. Lumbar and whole-body BMD z score less than -2 were present in 15% and 8% of the cohort, respectively. There were no significant differences between CS and CS-free in lumbar BMC (22.2 ± 1.4 and 23.4 ± 2.02 g; P = .165) and lumbar BMD (0.57 ± 0.02 and 0.80 ± 0.22 g/cm2; P = .152), respectively. Lumbar BMC ( r2= 0.89, P < .05) and whole-body BMC ( r2= 0.93, P < .05) were inversely related to CS dose >0.2 mg/kg/d and positively related to bone age ( P < .01).
  
  
  
  CS therapy in children post-LTX is associated with reduced BMC and delayed linear growth. Understanding the clinical and nutrition factors influencing bone health is important to optimizing growth and bone health in children post-LTX.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Agriculture, Food, and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.|2 Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mager
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Agriculture, Food, and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Abeer Salman
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Al-Zaben
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Cheri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robert
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gilmour
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yap
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015519:Bone Density; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D007223:Infant; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones
keywords: bone health; liver disease; organ transplantation; pediatrics