Reshaping of vertebrae during treatment with neridronate or pamidronate in children with osteogenesis imperfecta.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a hereditary disease causing increased bone fragility. Pamidronate (PAM), which has to be administered as a 3-day course according to the original protocol by Glorieux, is the most frequently used therapy. Other bisphosphonates like neridronate (NER), which can be infused during an outpatient visit, have also proven to be effective. This is the first analysis comparing the effect of PAM and NER using vertebral morphometry. 28 patients with OI type III and IV were retrospectively analyzed by matched pairs. No differences were detected between patients treated with PAM or NER at the start of therapy: mean age 4.4 years (p = 0.730), mean height 86.8 cm/85.3 cm (p = 0.854), lumbar vertebral area 208.9 mm(2)/206.0 mm(2) (p = 0.555), and in all vertebral indices. After 1 year of treatment (mean 1.16 years; p = 0.854) both groups showed a significant increase in the vertebral area and improved vertebral indices. Again there were no differences between the groups in the vertebral area (p = 0.590). In this study there was no difference between patients treated with PAM or NER regarding vertebral morphometry during the first year of therapy. Because of the possibility of an outpatient setting, NER is convenient for these children.