A case and review of FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemic osteomalacia in the absence of pathogenic PHEX variants

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Abstract We report an atypical case of fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23)-mediated hypophosphatemic osteomalacia without a pathogenic variant (PV) of PHEX, who improved biochemically, clinically and radiologically post burosumab treatment. We present a narrative review of FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemic osteomalacia and propose a roadmap for investigating the etiology of hypophosphatemia to guide therapy. A 29-year-old female with FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemic osteomalacia experienced multiple insufficiency fractures, including bilateral femoral diaphyseal fractures and delayed healing. This occurred on a background of juvenile enthesitis-related arthritis, narcolepsy and brittle dentition since her early teens. Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging and Gallium-68 DOTATATE positron emission tomography scans were unremarkable, making tumor-induced osteomalacia highly unlikely. No hypophosphatemic PVs were found using massively parallel sequencing. Despite phosphate and calcitriol therapy, mild hypophosphatemia persisted with minimal improvement in fracture healing or pain. One dose of 60 mg burosumab, an anti-FGF23 antibody, led to hyperphosphatemia requiring dose titration and three doses of burosumab normalized renal tubular maximum reabsorption rate of phosphate relative to glomerular filtration rate. Burosumab led to fracture healing with callus formation corresponding with improved pain at fracture sites. Hypophosphatemic osteomalacia manifests with varus deformity of the lower limbs, gait disturbance, muscle weakness, enthesopathy, and dental necrosis. Evaluation of the etiology is crucial and requires an algorithmic approach to determine whether hypophosphatemia is renally-mediated, FGF23-mediated, acquired or inherited. The most common inherited cause of FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemic osteomalacia is X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) secondary to a PV of the PHEX gene. However, the absence of a PHEX PVs does not exclude a diagnosis of hereditary FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemic osteomalacia. Other inherited causes of this disorder include autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive hypophosphatemic rickets, fibrous dysplasia-McCune-Albright syndrome, cutaneous skeletal hypophosphatemia syndrome and osteoglophonic dysplasia. Burosumab significantly improves serum phosphate and fracture healing in XLH and may effectively treat other forms of FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemia.