Dialysis – Transplantation
Kidney International (2003) 63, 2275–2279; doi:10.1046/j.1523-1755.2003.00012.x
Long-term effects on bone mineral density of pamidronate given at the time of renal transplantation
Stanley L-S Fan, Serita Kumar and John Cunningham
Department of Renal Medicine and Transplantation, The Royal London Hospital, London, United Kingdom
Correspondence: Dr Stanley L-S. Fan, The Department of Renal Medicine and Transplantation, The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom. E-mail: fan.stanley@bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk
Received 22 July 2002; Revised 18 November 2002; Accepted 17 January 2003.
Abstract
Long-term effects on bone mineral density of pamidronate given at the time of renal transplantation.
Background
Fracture rate after renal transplantation is substantially increased, is a source of morbidity and mortality, and correlates with osteopenia. The rate of bone loss after transplantation is time dependent. While we recorded marked bone loss during the first year after renal transplantation, bone loss in long-term recipients (>24 months) was found to be similar to expected age-related decline. We have previously shown that treatment with pamidronate at the time of transplantation protected the skeleton over a 1-year study period.
Methods
We have reexamined patients who participated in our original study, all of whom had been randomized to receive either placebo or pamidronate (0.5 mg/kg) at the time of transplantation and 1 month later. We now report 4-year data from 17 of the 26 original cohort. All patients received immunosuppression, comprising prednisolone, cyclosporine, and azathioprine.
Results
We found that without prophylaxis bone loss at 4 years was substantial and significant at the femoral neck (mean loss was -12.3%) but was not significant at the lumbar spine (mean loss was -4.64%). Patients who received two doses of pamidronate experienced no statistically significant bone loss at either the femoral neck or the lumbar spine. Patient characteristics of the placebo and treatment groups were similar with the exception of serum parathyroid hormone concentrations, which remained higher at 4 years in the pamidronate-treated patients (15.8 
3.7 pmol/L vs. 9.8 1.8 pmol/L, P < 0.05).
Conclusion
Without prophylaxis, most patients who continue to receive low dose glucocorticoids as part of maintenance immunosuppression manifest a substantial deficit in bone mineral density (BMD) at the femoral neck. In contrast, two doses of pamidronate given at the time of transplantation and 1 month later protected the skeleton from significant bone loss over the 4 years after transplantation.
Keywords:
transplantation, osteoporosis, bisphosphonates, pamidronate, renal, control trial
