Use of teriparatide in treatment of severe osteoporosis in geriatric practice: a clinical case review

Elderly and senile people are characterized by a high prevalence of osteoporosis, which, in turn, increases the risk of fractures, including the repeated ones. Fractures in osteoporosis are an extremely unfavorable complication of the disease, leading to catastrophic consequences in old age. The prevalence of osteoporotic fractures progressively increases with age. At present, the cumulative frequency of hip fractures in women over 80 is about 30%. The proportion of vertebral fractures in women older than 80 years is up to 40% of all vertebral osteoporotic fractures. Despite the tremendous successes achieved in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis, the disease itself and related fractures remain a serious medical, economic and social problem. Prevention of recurrent fractures in geriatric patients is a system of preventive, rehabilitative and therapeutic measures aimed at reducing the risk of falls, choosing an effective therapy, and reducing the risk of recurring fractures. A serious problem in the treatment of osteoporosis in older people is the inefficiency of the antiresorptive therapy due to an age-related decrease in bone formation. There are frequent cases of a continuing decrease in bone density, the occurrence of repeated fractures during ongoing therapy of osteoporosis. Often the therapy of choice in this case is bone-anabolic therapy with teriparatide, which allows one to achieve good results in the accumulation of bone mineral density. In this article, we will present the clinical case of an elderly patient with severe osteoporosis, in which teriparatide became the drug of choice.