SAT-LB64 Teriparatide and Its Bone Healing Power

Teriparatide, a parathyroid hormone analog, is an important anabolic agent approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to increase bone mineral density in osteoporotic patients. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) regulates calcium, phosphate, and active vitamin-D metabolites.The amino terminal peptide fragments of PTH has been known to increase bone mass and are being used in clinical practice for osteoporosis management (1). Current literature shows the efficacy of teriparatide in increasing bone density of lumbar spine and femoral neck, and decreasing the risk of vertebral and non-vertebral fractures both in postmenopausal women and men. It is also known to prevent fractures in patients with osteoporosis and promote healing of fractures (2). Case Description: A 79-year-old Hispanic female with history of osteopenia and major lumbar spine wedge compression fractures presented to our clinic for consultation. She was on ibandronate for the past four months and was having symptoms of pill esophagitis. Her last bone mineral density done on August 2017 revealed T-score of -2.5 at the lumbar spine, -1.5 at the left femoral neck, and 3.3% bone loss on the left femoral head. Rather than being started on teriparatide, zoledronic acid, or denosumab, she continued ibandronate along with calcium and vitamin D. Two months after the initial consultation, she sustained a traumatic fracture of the posterior arch and body of C2 bilaterally following a motor vehicle accident. There were discussions about starting anabolic treatment, as serial imaging did not show any significant improvement in the healing process despite the use of a collar. Two months after sustaining C2 fracture, she was started on teriparatide. Repeat cervical spine x-ray three months later showed complete healing of the C2 fracture. Discussion: There are a limited number of cases reported in regards to teriparatide induced healing of non-osteoporotic fractures (3). Our case is one of the very few reported to have shown complete radiographic and clinical healing of a traumatic, non-osteoporotic fracture after use of teriparatide for 12 weeks.