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Post-transplant Complications

Bone mineral deficits in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation: the impact of young age at transplant

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 49, pages 258–263 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Low bone mineral density (BMD) has been reported in recipients of pediatric hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), but it is unclear whether age at HCT has a role. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine if patients treated with HCT before the age of 10 years have long-term BMD deficits compared with patients transplanted at an older age and with sibling controls. The study included 151 HCT recipients (87 males), age at study 24.7±8.6 years treated with HCT for hematologic malignancies at age 10.9±6.4 years, and 92 healthy sibling controls (49 males), age at study 22.3±8.0 years. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry was performed to measure BMD Z-scores for total body BMD (TBMD), lumbar spine BMD (LBMD) and femoral neck BMD (FNBMD, for subjects ⩾20 years at study visit). Patients <10 years at HCT had significantly lower TBMD and FNBMD Z-scores (by 0.5 and 0.8 s.d., respectively) compared with controls (P=0.003 and P=0.0001, respectively) and patients >18 years at HCT (P=0.04 and P=0.004, respectively) at an average of 14 years after HCT. In conclusion, this study identified young age at transplant as an important risk factor for bone deficits in young adulthood, suggesting that efforts to reduce bone loss should focus on this patient population.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the NIH Grant RO1CA112530 to KSB, and the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) Grants 1UL1RR033183 to the University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the General Clinical Research Center Program M01-RR00400 and to the University of Washington Clinical and Translational Science Institute, NCRR 1 ULI TR000423.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    A Petryk, L E Polgreen & J Steinberger

  2. Biostatistical Design and Analysis Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    L Zhang

  3. Division of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    J S Hodges

  4. School of Kinesiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    D R Dengel

  5. Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    P A Hoffmeister & K S Baker

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  1. A Petryk
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  2. L E Polgreen
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Correspondence to A Petryk.

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The contents of this study are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CTSI or the NIH. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Petryk, A., Polgreen, L., Zhang, L. et al. Bone mineral deficits in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation: the impact of young age at transplant. Bone Marrow Transplant 49, 258–263 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2013.156

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