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Opportunities to evaluate, treat, and prevent future osteoporotic fractures are often being overlooked, especially in patients with a prior osteoporotic fracture. We find that an intensive outreach osteoporosis investigation strategy can help increase the number of patients investigated and treated for osteoporosis following a hip fracture., Purpose: Patients experiencing a hip fracture are subject to an increased risk of subsequent fractures. This suggests an urgent need to develop strategies that will allow a higher number of patients with fragility hip fractures to be investigated and treated for osteoporosis. In accordance, we developed a secondary osteoporosis prevention program and evaluated the results of the program., Methods: In the study period, 1071 patients with a hip fracture were admitted to Hvidovre University Hospital. Eligible patients were offered an osteoporosis investigation program, which included a DXA-scan with vertebral fracture assessment and a medical consultation. The data retrieved from this program were registered and analyzed. The primary goal of the study was to describe the number of subjects, who completed the program, and to characterize the initiated osteoporosis treatment. Secondary outcomes evaluated were prevalence of DXA-verified osteoporosis, changes in T-score due to treatment, and 1-year mortality rate., Results: In total, 557 patients were offered participation of which 333 patients completed the full program. Among these, 159 patients had DXA-verified osteoporosis and 192 patients were started treatment. This resulted in a significant higher T-score at the lumbar spine and femoral neck compared with subjects not treated. Additionally, we report a 1-year mortality rate of 27.7% among all patients with hip fracture., Conclusion: We report that an intensive outreach osteoporosis investigation program can help increase the number of hip fracture patients being tested and treated for osteoporosis. Further, the initiation of treatment can significantly increase the T-score.

The present case describes an atypical femur fracture in a patient, who had not previously been treated with bisphosphonate. The patient fulfilled the specific characteristics for an atypical fracture that have recently been suggested by an international expert group. For 15 years after her menopause the patient had been treated with oestrogen. Prospective studies to determine the frequency and pathogenesis of these fractures in patients treated with bisphosphonate and in bisphosphonate naïve patients are suggested.

Our purpose was to characterize the risks of osteoporosis-related subtrochanteric fractures in bisphosphonate-naive individuals. Baseline characteristics of patients enrolled in the HORIZON-Recurrent Fracture Trial with a study-qualifying hip fracture were examined, comparing those who sustained incident subtrochanteric fractures with those sustaining other hip fractures. Subjects were bisphosphonate-naive or had a bisphosphonate washout period of 6-24 months and subsequently received an annual infusion of zoledronic acid 5 mg or placebo after low-trauma hip-fracture repair. In total, 2,127 men and women were included. Of the qualifying hip fractures, 5.2% were subtrochanteric, 54.8% femoral neck, 33.0% intertrochanteric, and 7.1% other (generally complex fractures of mixed type). Significant baseline (pre-hip fracture) differences were seen between index hip-fracture types, with the percentage of patients with extreme mobility problems being twofold higher in patients with index subtrochanteric fracture (9.9%) compared to other patients. The distribution of hip-fracture types was similar between the treatment groups at baseline. No patients with index subtrochanteric fractures and six patients with other qualifying hip fractures reported prior bisphosphonate use. Only one further subtrochanteric fracture occurred in each treatment group over an average 2-year patient follow-up. Subtrochanteric fractures are not uncommon in bisphosphonate-naive patients. Extreme difficulties with mobility may be a unique risk factor predisposing to development of incident subtrochanteric fractures rather than other types of hip fracture. In patients with recent hip fracture who received zoledronic acid therapy, the incidence of new subtrochanteric fractures was too small to draw any meaningful conclusions.

Annual infusions of zoledronic acid (5 mg) significantly reduced the risk of vertebral, hip, and nonvertebral fractures in a study of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and significantly reduced clinical fractures and all-cause mortality in another study of women and men who had recently undergone surgical repair of hip fracture. In this analysis, we examined whether timing of the first infusion of zoledronic acid study drug after hip fracture repair influenced the antifracture efficacy and mortality benefit observed in the study. A total of 2127 patients (1065 on active treatment and 1062 on placebo; mean age, 75 yr; 76% women and 24% men) were administered zoledronic acid or placebo within 90 days after surgical repair of an osteoporotic hip fracture and annually thereafter, with a median follow-up time of 1.9 yr. Median time to first dose after the incident hip fracture surgery was approximately 6 wk. Posthoc analyses were performed by dividing the study population into 2-wk intervals (calculated from time of first infusion in relation to surgical repair) to examine effects on BMD, fracture, and mortality. Analysis by 2-wk intervals showed a significant total hip BMD response and a consistent reduction of overall clinical fractures and mortality in patients receiving the first dose 2-wk or later after surgical repair. Clinical fracture subgroups (vertebral, nonvertebral, and hip) were also reduced, albeit with more variation and 95% CIs crossing 1 at most time points. We concluded that administration of zoledronic acid to patients suffering a low-trauma hip fracture 2 wk or later after surgical repair increases hip BMD, induces significant reductions in the risk of subsequent clinical vertebral, nonvertebral, and hip fractures, and reduces mortality.

Background: Mortality is increased after a hip fracture, and strategies that improve outcomes are needed., Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 1065 patients were assigned to receive yearly intravenous zoledronic acid (at a dose of 5 mg), and 1062 patients were assigned to receive placebo. The infusions were first administered within 90 days after surgical repair of a hip fracture. All patients (mean age, 74.5 years) received supplemental vitamin D and calcium. The median follow-up was 1.9 years. The primary end point was a new clinical fracture., Results: The rates of any new clinical fracture were 8.6% in the zoledronic acid group and 13.9% in the placebo group, a 35% risk reduction with zoledronic acid (P=0.001); the respective rates of a new clinical vertebral fracture were 1.7% and 3.8% (P=0.02), and the respective rates of new nonvertebral fractures were 7.6% and 10.7% (P=0.03). In the safety analysis, 101 of 1054 patients in the zoledronic acid group (9.6%) and 141 of 1057 patients in the placebo group (13.3%) died, a reduction of 28% in deaths from any cause in the zoledronic acid group (P=0.01). The most frequent adverse events in patients receiving zoledronic acid were pyrexia, myalgia, and bone and musculoskeletal pain. No cases of osteonecrosis of the jaw were reported, and no adverse effects on the healing of fractures were noted. The rates of renal and cardiovascular adverse events, including atrial fibrillation and stroke, were similar in the two groups., Conclusions: An annual infusion of zoledronic acid within 90 days after repair of a low-trauma hip fracture was associated with a reduction in the rate of new clinical fractures and with improved survival. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00046254 [ClinicalTrials.gov].)., (Copyright 2007 Massachusetts Medical Society.)

Objective: Integrin alphavbeta3 is essential for mature osteoclast function and therefore important for the development of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures. Integrin alphavbeta3 antagonists have antiresorptive effects in bone. We tested the hypothesis that the Leu33Pro polymorphism in the integrin beta3-subunit associates with risk of hip fracture., Methods: We included 9233 men and women selected at random to represent the Danish general population as participants in the Copenhagen City Heart Study. First-ever hip fractures (n=267) were registered during 25 years follow-up. Log-rank statistics and Cox regression were used to compare fracture incidences and risk estimates between genotypes., Results: Genotyping rendered 69.9% noncarriers, 27.3% heterozygotes and 2.7% homozygotes. Incidence of hip fracture was 2.8 and 1.5 per 1000 person-years in homozygotes and noncarriers (log-rank: P=0.02), respectively. Multifactorial adjusted Cox regression revealed a hazard ratio of 2.0 (95% confidence interval: 1.1-3.5) for hip fracture in homozygotes versus noncarriers. After stratification by sex, equivalent hazard ratios were 2.0 (1.0-4.1) in women and 2.0 (0.8-5.0) in men. In the 2193 postmenopausal women, hazard ratio for hip fracture in homozygotes versus noncarriers after additional adjustment for age at menopause and use of hormone replacement therapy was 2.6 (1.2-5.3). Hazard ratio for hip fracture in heterozygotes versus noncarriers did not differ from 1.0., Conclusions: Individuals homozygous for the integrin beta3 Leu33Pro polymorphism have a two-fold risk of hip fracture, mainly confined to postmenopausal women. Integrin beta3 Leu33Pro homozygosity could prove a useful marker for risk of future hip fracture and may contribute to pharmacogenetic variation in effects of integrin alphavbeta3 antagonists.