Neridronate for transient osteoporosis of the hip in a child

Abstract

Transient osteoporosis of the hip (TOH) is usually reported in middle-aged men or during pregnancy as a benign self-limiting condition. Nevertheless, its impact on quality of life in terms of pain and disability is considerable. Also, it can lead to insufficiency fractures or, more rarely, evolve into osteonecrosis. This condition is anecdotally described in the pediatric age and very little is known about how it may affect the growing bone. We herein describe a case of TOH in a 10-year-old child treated at our pediatric rheumatology service and summarize the pediatric cases of TOH previously reported in literature. There are two points of interest in our case report, the first one being the unusual complication of TOH with a femoral physis fracture and the second the complete recovery after the off-label therapy with bisphosphonates. We suggest that interventional medical treatment could be considered in selected cases of juvenile TOH, to prevent any possible irreversible damage on the femoral physis. As far as we know, this is the first report of neridronate employment in children affected by TOH.