Effects of Oral Pamidronate in Treatment of Primary Osteoporosis

Abstract

Objectives: Bisphosphonates are well-known agents for treatment of osteoporosis. Oral pamidronate treatment for osteoporosis were studied in Caucasian, but not in Korean. Effects of oral pamidronate were studied in Korean primary osteoporosis patients. Methods: Twenty four(11 men and 13 women) primary osteoporosis patients were treated with 100mg of daily pamidronate(panorin, Hanlim Co., Korea) for mean duration of 13.5±1.9months. Serum alkaline phosphatase, urine calcium/ creatinine ratio, bone mineral densities of spine(L1-4) and femur(neck, trochanter, ward, and total) were followed-up. Results: Serum alkaline phsophatase decreased from 95.3±28.0 to 69.4±23.1IU/L(P＜0.01). Urine calcium/creatinine ratio decreased from 0.132±0.076 to 0.083±0.052(P＜0.05). Bone mineral density of spine increased from 0.788±0.137 to 0.841±0.144g/cm2(P＜0.01). Bone mineral density of total proximal femur increased from 0.819±0.099 to 0.833±0.098g/cm2(P＜0.05). Conclusion: Oral pamidronate treatment for 1 year was effective in increasing bone mineral density and decreasing biochemical bone turnover rate. Further study of prospective randomized double blind trial will be needed.