Fracture rates in patients with growth hormone deficiency

There is some evidence that bone mass is reduced in the majority of adult patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), suggesting that such patients have an increased risk of fractures and clinically significant osteoporosis. To date, there have been only two reports of fracture rates in patients with hypopituitarism. Both these retrospective studies show an increased fracture prevalence in this patient group compared with the general population, but patient numbers were low for assessing fracture rates. However, an analysis of data from a large-scale pharmacoepidemiological survey of adults with GHD, KIMS (Pharmacia International Metabolic Database), confirms the findings of these earlier studies. The prevalence of all fractures among patients in KIMS was 2.7 times that in the control population, and the risk of fracture was independent of whether patients had isolated GHD or multiple pituitary hormone deficiencies. The results suggest that GHD is a risk factor for fractures, if a direct endocrine cause is assumed. Notably, there are some data on subgroup analyses from KIMS suggesting that growth hormone replacement therapy may help to reduce fracture risk, although further evidence is needed to confirm this effect.