CHICAGO Bone density was no different in children who were treated with oral glucocorticoids for hemangiomas of infancy than it was in healthy controls, based on data presented in a poster at the annual meeting of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology.
Although oral glucocorticoids are considered the first choice of medication for the treatment of infant hemangiomas, concerns persist about the risk that these children will develop osteoporosis because glucocorticoids may prevent the formation of new bone, wrote Dr. Amy J. Nopper, a dermatologist at the Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo.
To assess the possible impact of systemic glucocorticoids on the density of children's bones, Dr. Nopper and her colleagues compared 35 children (mean age 44 months) who received glucocorticoids for hemangiomas for an average of 8.5 months with 35 controls.
The average treatment dose was 2.2 mg/kg per day of prednisolone. The average body mass index was approximately 16 kg/m2 for both the treatment and control groups.
The researchers measured the children's bone density after they had been off treatment for a period of at least 1 year. The results showed that the average spinal bone mineral density was the same (0.6 g/m2) for both the treatment and control groups. The average total bone mineral density also was the same for both groups of children (0.8 g/m2), and no significant differences appeared in the tibial ultrasound measurements between the two groups.
The results complement findings from other studies that have shown that the use of corticosteroids for the treatment of hemangiomas in early childhood does not prevent children from catching up in growth and achieving normal adult height, noted Dr. Nopper.