Abstract 30

We have detected osteopenia in CP with at least 5 years of a good compliance to gluten free diet. We were interested in evaluating the effect of a 2 years supplementation with 1 g of calcium carbonate and 400 U vitamin D (D3) per day, upon bone mineral density (BMD) in 35 CP of both sexes, aged 6 to 16 years, who had been on a gluten free diet for a mean of 5 years. BMD was evaluated in lumbar spine (L2-L4), femoral neck (FN) and whole body (WB) using a radiologic densitometer (LUNAR). Results were expressed as Z score using as reference a European standard. The paired t test was used for statistical analysis. Compliance to supplementation was 80% Basal BMD was -0.22 ± 0.57 in WB, -0.81 ± 0.89 in L2-L4 and -0.35 ± 0.89 in FN. A significant increase in BMD of FN was observed after 2 years of supplementation (0.05 ± 0.98), without changes in BMD of L2-L4 and WB (-1.0 ± 0.91 and -0.06 ± 0.61, respectively). We conclude that calcium and vitamin D supplementation in CP had a positive effect on FN mineralization in this risk group of osteoporosis. However no significant effect on lumbar spine and WB was observed.