title: [Teriparatide for conservative treatment of osteoporotic vertebral fracture: analysis of 12 cases].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy of conservative treatment with teriparatide for promoting bone fracture healing in patients with osteoporotic vertebral fracture.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve postmenopausal patients (aged 73±4.8 years) with osteoporotic spinal fracture confirmed by MRI or CT scanning received conservative treatment with teriparatidesc injection supplemented with calcium and analgesics for 6 months. At the beginning and at the end of the therapy, VAS score, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), bone mass densitometry, and X-ray of the thoracic and lumbar spine, and serum P1NP and beta-CTX levels were measured. Six of the patients received a second MRI scan after the therapy to evaluate the bone healing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the 12 patients completed the treatment, during which no new fractures or adverse events occurred. At the end of the first month of treatment, analgesic was withdrawn for all the patients. The average VAS score decreased from 8±2 to 1±2 at 1 month during the therapy, and ODI was reduced from (76±12)% to (20±5)% at 1 month and further to (5±4)% at 6 month. After the 6-month therapy, the height of the fractured vertebrae (presented as the anterior to posterior wall height ratio) was insignificantly decreased from (75±20)% to (61±20)%, the BMD was increased by (20±5)%, P1NP increased significantly from 20.9±11.4 ng/mL to 80.0±41.2 ng/mL, and beta-CTX increased from 0.30±0.17 ng/mL to 0.51±0.3 ng/mL. The 6 patients re-examined with MRI demonstrated complete bone healing after the therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Teriparatide is effective for conservative treatment of osteoporotic spinal fracture and can promote bone fracture healing, improve the quality of life, and prevents vertebral collapse, and can be therefore an alternative treatment to PVP or BV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Spinal Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.E-mail: drmyang@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: De-Hong
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Shao-Yu
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Guo-Jun
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Jian-Ting
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015519:Bone Density; D002118:Calcium / Q000627:therapeutic use; D050815:Fractures, Compression / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D058866:Osteoporotic Fractures / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011788:Quality of Life; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019379:Teriparatide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D019379:Teriparatide; D002118:Calcium