CHICAGO — Bone density was no different in children treated with oral glucocorticoids for hemangiomas of infancy than it was in healthy controls, according to a presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology.
Although oral glucocorticoids are considered the first choice 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, of the Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo.
To assess the possible impact of systemic glucocorticoids on bone density, she and her colleagues compared 35 infants (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/m
The researchers measured the children's bone density after they had been off treatment for at least 1 year and found that the average spinal bone mineral density was the same (0.6 g/m
The results support findings from other studies that show steroid use to treat hemangiomas in early childhood does not prevent children from catching up in growth and achieving normal adult height, Dr. Nopper noted.